Hundreds of Austinites met at the Texas African American History Memorial at 11th Street and Congress Avenue to take part in the Black History Bike Ride this past Juneteenth.
Now in its fifth year, the event took people on an 8.46-mile bike ride to places like the Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church, World War II veteran Richard Overton’s house and the Carver Museum. The bike ride was followed by lunch, a block party and a documentary screening of The Route to Emancipation.
The ride was started in 2020 by Talib Abdullahi, who said he's a firm believer in the power of cycling.
“Especially for people of color, I think movement is freedom,� Abdullahi said. “And any kind of movement you're able to control, [where] you go anywhere you want � that movement is freedom. If you want to do that on a bike, that's great.�
The beginning
Abdullahi is originally from the Sharpstown neighborhood of Houston. That’s where his love of cycling began.
“I remember really distinctly my mom bought me this blue Trek bicycle,� he said.
As an only child, he didn’t have siblings to play with.
“But I had the bike,� Abdullahi said. “I could hop on and go explore my little neighborhood.�
Later, he moved to the Houston suburb of Pearland, where he was still able to get into the city on his bike. There, he found a bike shop and struck up a friendship with the owners. When his mom was working, he would ride down to the bike shop and play Xbox on the couch.
“I think that instilled this love of like, these are my people,� Abdullahi said. “It's about bikes, it's about the community, and it's all about having fun and also about adventure.�
The ride
Abdullahi came to Austin as an undergraduate at UT.
“There were lots of creatives here," he said. "I felt like I'll be able to find and create and join a community here more easily.�
He graduated with a degree in American Studies in 2013.
“We spent a lot of time talking about freedmen's communities and the redlining in Austin and all of these issues,� Abdullahi said, referring to his studies. Freedmen communities were settlements that formerly enslaved people created after the Civil War. Redlining was a common practice where banks and mortgage lenders would deny services to people who lived in majority Black neighborhoods.
After the death of George Floyd, he started attending protests almost daily.
“I talked to a lot of my friends, just individuals that were there that were so upset about, you know, George Floyd and Trayvon [Martin], Eric Garner,� Abdullahi said.
But when he asked these same people if they had heard about events that had impacted Black Austinites, like the 1928 master plan that forced many Black residents to move east of what is now I-35, most said they hadn’t.
“So I was like, why don't more people know about this?� he said. “Maybe I, in my own way, can create an opportunity to just teach some of my friends about the things I care about, and I'll do it the way that I also like, which is on a bike.�
Abdullahi chose to ride 8.46 miles through Austin. The number has significance.
“That was the amount of time that George Floyd was under Derek Chauvin's body weight, and what ultimately caused him to pass away,� Abdullahi said. (That number became a symbol during racial justice protests; it was to 9 minutes and 29 seconds.)
Though he only expected a handful of people to come to this first ride, around 400 showed up.
“You know a normal bike ride is like a half dozen people, medium is like 20, 40 or 50 is huge,� Abdullahi said. “And then 400, it was like, we were completely taking over the streets.�
Abdullahi and his partners chose the locations of the Black History Bike Ride to help riders get a better understanding of the issues that have historically faced Austin's Black community.
“We can create a historical thread between a lot of the different locations that Black people were moved,� Abdullahi said.
He said biking is a unique way to engage in this experience.
“You're like, ‘If I was to walk this, this would take me an hour,'� Abdullahi said. “I can ride a bike in between there in 10 minutes. � You can feel the energy of the outdoors, and you have that speed.�
The documentary
After the Juneteenth ride, participants watched the premiere of the documentary The Route to Emancipation, which Abdullahi directed with Riley Engemoen. The film follows Abdullahi and his partners in the Black History Bike Ride � Brandon Grant and Ariel Marlowe � on a 350-mile journey from the Texas Capitol to the site in Galveston where the Juneteenth proclamation was read.
“On the way, we stopped through freedmen's communities � and we stopped at Prairie View A&M,� Abdullahi said. “We stopped through the first Capitol building of Texas ... and then, we ended in Galveston and interviewed with some folks down there.�
In 2024, the film won Best Texas Short Documentary at the Denton Black Film Festival. .
The next era
This past spring, Abdullahi earned an MBA from the McCombs School of Business.
“I want us to grow," Abdullahi said. "That's why I got my MBA. I have a great idea, and we have traction here. How do we find really tangible and sustainable ways to scale to other regions and to other cities?�
It turns out, tours like the Black History Bike Ride are happening all over the country.
“My hope is that one day, if we're able to structure and raise money the right way, that we'd be able to be a conduit for microgrants to these other organizations,� Abdullahi said.
And in five to 10 years, he hopes to grow the nonprofit into a national organization.
“[I want to] produce more great documentary content and really touch and enlighten more people in a way that shows both the joy of cycling and the kind of resilience and impact that Black people have had on American history," he said.
with Talib Abdullahi in the player above. You can find Black Austin Matters wherever you get your podcasts.
