It Was A Rebellion

From the days of the Civil Rights Era to Ferguson to Baltimore to downtown Chicago in wake of Laquan McDonald, the public expression of Black rage that escalates into physical confrontation or property damage is often framed as mindless barbarism by authority and mainstream media with the word “riot.” In this sonic exploration, DJ and sound artist Sadie Woods recuperates and challenges our notion of the riot and reframes it as legitimate, even loving, insurgency or rebellion.

It Was A Rebellion has been in development since 2017. An early version was performed in 2018 as a pirate radio broadcast at Homan Square, a former Chicago Police Department black site.

It Was A Rebellion mixes music from the Civil Rights Era and music of contemporary social movements, news reports and political speeches, and ephemeral and symbolic sounds to articulate public expressions of Black rage.

This sonic work was performed to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination and the Chicago uprising of April 1968 as an act of rebellion, and to redeem King’s more radical impulses and invasions in the public space that are fundamentally expressions for hope and change.

It Was A Rebellion Mixtape was released on Juneteenth 2020 to the public to celebrate Black liberatory practices in the wake of continued state sponsored violence and global social unrest.

Woods' 2-sided mixtape It Was A Rebellion focuses on the relentless fight for liberation and meditates on the notion of “riots” through Black expressive culture, music and sonic ephemera.

Inspired by Dr. King’s famous maxim, “a riot is the language of the unheard,” It Was A Rebellion mixes speeches by Black leaders like MLK and H Rap Brown, poetry from Amiri Baraka and The Watts Poets, and music ranging from The Roots and J-Dilla to Black artists less embraced by the mainstream like vocalist Marlene Shaw and even former Black Panther Party Chairwoman Elaine Brown.

Woods also released a companion mix It Was A Rebellion (House Mix) as a dance party protest, using music as a medium for gathering and freedom fighting.