Dancing in the Reign of Violence
Swag surf, n. - a group line dance used to signify spiritual solidarity throughout life’s greatest achievements. The swag surf is most commonly seen as a mindfulness practice that represents a shared understanding that the present moment is the actual achievement.
Just like the Swag Surf, photos freeze our sense of time. They focus a shared sense of histories, heartaches and hope of Black people into a single moment of appreciation. That appreciation of progress breeds unrelenting joy that, momentarily, fictionalizes the violence and vitriol we experience in our everyday realities with the undeniable truth of the moment. These moments in time are not to be written off as merely a brief escape from those realities, because those truths of joy may cease to exist if not for the acknowledgement and gratitude the swag surf gives us. Those moments define our collective identity and that identity fuels our resistance like the kindling of change. Go forth and recognize the powerful force of those experiences with a gospel-like reverence. In a fraction of a second, the energy from the son bounces off its children and is transposed into the film forever. One thing is for certain, when the light shines through a negative, you can’t deny that moment as truth. It happened, despite everything.
