- 5 weeks ago
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🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00If there were no black cowboys, then America would not exist.
00:30What, you want proof?
00:36The black cowboy was intentionally removed from the story so that we can create the myth of the American white cowboy.
00:43As soon as cowboy became a cool thing was exactly when they took that from us.
00:49You know, white people really got some nerve.
00:55When you say cowboy, I don't think a long ranger.
00:58I want to do this shit, baby.
01:00I have no love for John Wayne whatsoever.
01:02Fuck John Wayne.
01:04Land is everything.
01:06Land is freedom.
01:08Land is power.
01:09It was just stolen.
01:10That's a heist.
01:16Our history has been erased.
01:18When I came up, there was a whole lot of black jockeys.
01:21What you don't want to be known, you erase it.
01:24All this right here, y'all gonna have to rewrite that, rework that.
01:27Country music is black music.
01:29Has it been stolen?
01:30Has it been heisted?
01:31Is there anything black people have made that hasn't been heisted?
01:34I got this shit.
01:35You rewrote the history.
01:37We are just going back and straightening the story out.
01:39To reclaim what was stolen from us, we have to tell everyone.
01:44I got this shit.
01:56You know, I was really fascinated with this question of what happened to the black cowboy.
02:06The truth is the black cowboy was erased.
02:14The black cowboy was intentionally removed from the story.
02:20Because it was uncomfortable, it was inconvenient,
02:23and it was not the story that they wanted to tell.
02:26The biggest myth about the American cowboy is that they're white.
02:32The term cowboy has some very, like, insidious anti-black roots.
02:37Historically, the term was only used to refer to black ranch hands.
02:41Cow.
02:43Boy.
02:44A derogatory term designed to differentiate the enslaved black people
02:47from the white ones that also tended to and herded the cows.
02:50The white folks referred to as cowhands, while the highly skilled black horsemen
02:54were only afforded the discourtesy of being called boy.
02:58The proper term for the white cowhand was cowhand.
03:02The proper term for the black cowhand was cowboy.
03:05Because boy obviously meant lesser.
03:07Yep, because if it wasn't us, they would have said cowmen.
03:10That's how racist they are.
03:12They was niggas, so they...
03:13Hey, boy!
03:14Hey, boy!
03:15Boy, get off that goddamn cow!
03:18The original cowboy is black.
03:20The boy wants to relegate you to a lower level, to degrade you.
03:27Do you want to know just how black cowboyism is?
03:30Stock grazers from current-day Senegal were brought to the colony
03:33specifically because of their horse skills.
03:39Black people's relationship to horses predates colonialism and slavery.
03:44There were black tribes on the African continent who were already going into war on horseback.
03:50So we're very, very skilled at what it means to work with animals.
03:54All of this was something that black people took great pride in long before they were forced to do it on an American's plantation.
04:02In South Carolina, they had cattle hunters.
04:05Men who they bought specifically from the plains of Africa, who were skilled horsemen.
04:10These human traffickers would advertise.
04:13And we see in the advertisement, they didn't call them cattle hunters.
04:16They called them cowboys.
04:21The black cowboy was always normal to me.
04:23I actually had culture shock when I saw white cowboys on TV the first time.
04:27The black Merry Christmas
04:32Any man on a horse is a powerful thing,
04:58but a black man on a horse in particular
05:01is an act of defiance, it's power, it's control.
05:07You know, I think when white America
05:09sees a black man or a black person in general
05:12in any position of power,
05:14specifically the elevated position on a horse,
05:17it's like literally looking down
05:18on whoever they're talking to.
05:20It signals a reversal of hierarchy.
05:31The white person in that situation
05:37has to imagine what a black person would do
05:40if they were in power.
05:46Like, that is something that terrifies white America
05:49because when they were in the same position,
05:52they know what they did.
05:54We're in Richland Farms, Compton, California.
05:57You feel me?
05:57You got Compton on this side,
05:58California on this side.
05:59You feel me?
06:00Born and raised.
06:01Proud.
06:06Compton Cowboys is your typical horse club,
06:10equestrian club,
06:10the same way you might see
06:11a biker club or a car club.
06:14We have a horse club, a cowboy club.
06:16It's my baby.
06:19Yeah.
06:21When the rain comes
06:24We'll still ride home
06:29It really kind of stemmed from
06:31growing up on a ranch
06:32with my auntie having an organization
06:33where she used horses to keep kids
06:36out of trouble off the streets.
06:38This is our life source right here.
06:39This is the reason why we get up every day.
06:41It's what keeps us motivated,
06:43keep us inspired.
06:45We just grew up together,
06:46riding horses,
06:47living a whole robust life
06:48just like cowboy activities.
06:50And so now that we're older,
06:52we just wanted to pay it forward
06:53by putting ourselves together,
06:54putting the brand on us
06:55and getting out there in the world.
06:58Representation is important
06:59because a lot of these
07:00black children coming up,
07:03if they don't see it around them
07:04and they don't see it represented on TV,
07:07they might not know that it's possible
07:09for them to be a part of it.
07:10The Compton Cowboys were saying
07:12how if they can get the word out
07:14and teach these kids
07:15or let them know
07:16how to get access
07:17to this type of stuff,
07:19then it would change everything.
07:20I want to go to L.A.
07:21to meet the Compton Cowboys.
07:23They probably got something
07:24they could teach me
07:25and it'd just be nice
07:26to sit back
07:27and watch someone
07:29who looks like me,
07:30you know,
07:30do what I love to do.
07:31Erasure is particularly horrifying
07:39because it's a lie
07:40that affects the future
07:43and the present.
07:45From the perspective
07:46of a kid who grew up
07:48in New York City
07:48who didn't know
07:49any real cowboys,
07:50all I had
07:51was what I saw in movies.
07:53Hello, folks.
07:54I'm John Wayne.
07:57We'll be hearing a lot
07:59about our early history
08:00and making some discoveries.
08:03Try this one, partner.
08:05Looks like real.
08:07Sounds like real.
08:09The treasure
08:09of the American cowboy
08:11is in the image.
08:13It is something
08:14that has commodified
08:15the world over.
08:16all of American culture
08:18and all of these
08:20corporate empires
08:23have been built upon.
08:24From the music industry
08:26to the movie industry
08:27to the iconography
08:30of America.
08:31I need the help
08:32of every friend
08:33of the lonely.
08:33All of it relates
08:35to the black cowboy
08:37because that is
08:38the origin story
08:39of all of that.
08:41But black people
08:42have been excluded
08:43from using
08:45and being part
08:46of that treasure.
08:48Orasia ain't shit
08:49but a heist.
08:50The history
08:51wasn't vaporized
08:53into thin air.
08:54It was just stolen.
08:57Everything that was stolen
08:58that people thought
09:00they had no access to
09:01is actually theirs
09:02and they actually created it.
09:04What's going to happen
09:05when all those people
09:06find out that you've been
09:07lying to them
09:08for hundreds of years?
09:23When I was growing up
09:24you see somebody
09:25walking the saloon
09:26order a drink
09:27never looked like me.
09:30Bartender didn't look like me.
09:32Nobody else drinking
09:32in the saloon
09:33looked like me.
09:34Shit.
09:34If I was lucky
09:35maybe the piano player
09:36but that wasn't even a given.
09:37Basically most of the TV shows
09:46back in the day
09:46were westerns.
09:47Gunsmoke.
09:48I'm that old
09:49like I used to see
09:50a lot of Gunsmoke.
09:51I remember Maverick.
09:53Here comes J.R. Ewing
09:54and the television show
09:55Dallas
09:56but never saw me.
09:58Never saw me.
09:59When I got to see
10:03somebody black on TV
10:05I can remember it
10:07very clearly
10:08it was Julia.
10:09It was Diane Carroll
10:10and I cannot tell you
10:12how proud I was
10:13to watch that
10:14but I didn't see
10:15black cowboys.
10:21That's a part of the erasure.
10:23We just thought that
10:25black cowboys
10:26did not exist.
10:27I didn't know the history.
10:29I assumed it was
10:30Wild Bill Hickok
10:31and Marshal Dillon.
10:33You know that's what
10:34came on our TV
10:35and that's who we rooted for.
10:37Yeah.
10:39You're the Lone Ranger
10:40and I would know
10:42silver anywhere.
10:44The real Lone Ranger
10:45you know
10:45the romanticized version
10:47of it is a white man
10:47behind the mask
10:48but the actual real
10:49Lone Ranger
10:49was a black man.
10:51I best read
10:52with Solomon's swear
10:54that I will faithfully
10:55execute
10:56our lawful precepts
10:58directed to the Marshal
10:59of the United States.
11:01Yeah,
11:01Bass Reeves baby
11:02the real
11:02the real
11:03Lone Ranger.
11:04Do your research.
11:05Read the book.
11:05Come on kid.
11:07The Lone Ranger?
11:09Hogwash.
11:10Just another early
11:1020th century
11:11whitewashing of black stories
11:12because Hollywood
11:13couldn't seem to come up
11:14with anything compelling
11:15on their own.
11:16Bass Reeves was the first
11:17black deputy
11:18U.S. marshal
11:18west of the Mississippi River
11:20and legend has it
11:21he arrested more than
11:223,000 people
11:23and killed 14 outlaws
11:24all without sustaining
11:25a single gun wound.
11:26That's a bad man.
11:29You can imagine
11:30how hard it must have been
11:31being a black cowboy
11:32trying to tell white boys
11:33what they were supposed
11:34to do back then.
11:35It's a little bass
11:36for representing
11:36for all of us.
11:38Because of his exploits,
11:39because of his bravery,
11:40he became a national hero
11:43but because he was black
11:46they changed his name
11:48and changed his story
11:49to the Lone Ranger.
11:54This law man of the west
11:56it was absolutely
11:58about Bass Reeves
11:59but of course
12:00the times that this came along
12:02they weren't going to let
12:03a black man take that character.
12:07Why wouldn't they steal that?
12:08It's some cool shit
12:09they didn't want to see
12:09black people doing.
12:11Let's make it a white man.
12:12He got a mask too.
12:13Like you know
12:14they just tried to make it fly
12:15but it's not hard to believe
12:17that that story was stolen.
12:19And you know
12:20it probably blew
12:21a lot of people's minds
12:22even black people
12:23because they grew up
12:24probably loving that show.
12:26I'm not going to do
12:27any killing.
12:28You not defend yourself?
12:30Oh I'll shoot if I have to
12:31but I'll shoot the wound
12:33not to kill him.
12:35Alright now
12:36y'all gonna stop playing
12:37with my man Bass Reeves.
12:38I'm sick of it.
12:39But the usurping of his story
12:40comes at no surprise
12:41given the time period.
12:42The height of western films
12:43in the 1930s to 60s
12:44took place during
12:45primetime Jim Crow.
12:47So with the romanticization
12:48of western films
12:49so too came the erasure
12:50of black faces.
12:51Out of the past
12:52it's all this reflection of white male fragility
12:57and a need to be the coolest dude in the room.
13:05You must be the hero.
13:07I just remember that
13:09in Lethal Weapon.
13:11Racist-ass Mellie Gibson
13:12got to be like
13:15you know
13:15unhinged
13:17and cool
13:17and be like
13:18a perfect crack shot
13:20and Danny Glover
13:21had to be on the side.
13:22Talking about rigs, rigs.
13:24There's a bomb
13:24on the toilet.
13:26There's a bomb
13:26on the toilet.
13:28Gonna die
13:29on the toilet
13:29aren't I?
13:30Guys like you
13:31don't die
13:31You have one of the greatest
13:33actors of all time
13:35and Danny
13:36asked Glover
13:37and he's not allowed
13:39to save the day?
13:40Come on.
13:41One
13:41two
13:43three
13:45As soon
13:49as cowboy
13:50became a cool thing
13:52was exactly when
13:53they took that from us.
13:55Once upon a time
13:56when a kid dressed up
13:57to play cowboy
13:58he was just any cowboy.
14:00Today
14:00more often than not
14:01he's the lone ranger.
14:03The entire trope
14:04of the cowboy
14:05has at this point
14:07become so embedded
14:08with whiteness
14:09and white masculinity
14:10that there's no space
14:12for a black man here.
14:13There's not even a real one.
14:21Fuck Westerns.
14:26The impact
14:27of the lack
14:29of representation
14:30and film
14:31is something
14:32you're almost
14:33not aware of.
14:34It's the world
14:35you grow up in.
14:36It's the ecosystem.
14:42Edward Muybridge
14:43was a photographer
14:44who devised a method
14:46of placing a camera
14:47across a path
14:48and then he asked
14:49a jockey
14:50to run along
14:51that path
14:52flipping each
14:53of the shutters
14:54as he passed.
14:58Yes.
14:58That was the first
14:59moving image
15:00in the United States
15:01and it featured
15:02an African-American
15:03rider.
15:07This is the first
15:08movie star
15:09and we don't know
15:10who he is
15:11and that to me
15:12was the horror story
15:15at the center
15:16of NOPE.
15:17Did you know
15:18that the very first
15:19assembly of photographs
15:20and sequential order
15:21to create a motion picture
15:22was a two-second clip
15:23of a black man
15:24on a horse?
15:26No.
15:28NOPE.
15:28NOPE is about
15:30the illusion
15:32of the western.
15:35Hey, it's gone.
15:36I can't see it
15:37anymore, guys.
15:39It's about
15:40the illusion
15:40of Hollywood.
15:41The Hollywood take
15:43on what the past
15:44of this country
15:45looked like.
15:46and the fact
15:48that that illusion
15:50is what
15:51I've been fed.
15:54Hollywood has been
15:55a tool
15:55for the erasure
15:56of the black American,
15:58of black history
15:59and certainly
16:00of the black
16:01western experience.
16:04I remember
16:05watching
16:06The Searchers,
16:07The Man Who Shot
16:08Liberty Valance,
16:09really incredible movies.
16:11Then I remember
16:11seeing Unforgiven
16:12and I remember
16:13as a young person
16:14thinking,
16:16oh shit,
16:18there's a black man
16:19in a western.
16:20Get your damn hands
16:20off my rifle, mister.
16:23Where have black people
16:24even been?
16:26Thought I'd check it
16:27for you.
16:29The history
16:30of the western
16:31is one of
16:33honestly,
16:34white supremacy.
16:35Why don't you
16:36finish the job?
16:37I think the frontier
16:38narrative relative
16:40to U.S. history,
16:42it's a very
16:43problematic genre
16:44for me.
16:46I don't know
16:46that anybody
16:47sat in a room
16:49and said,
16:49we want to make
16:50the western white.
16:53That was just
16:54naturally what happened
16:55because that's how
16:56they saw the world.
16:58Their world
16:59was white.
16:59Oh.
17:07I am a cowgirl
17:13in all my blackness,
17:15all my westernness,
17:16all my joy.
17:18Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
17:20Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch.
17:22We're gonna party
17:22today, y'all.
17:24I would say
17:25about 19,
17:26when I did
17:27Fort Apache,
17:27the Bronx,
17:28and they had to call
17:29me from Colorado.
17:30Well, what you doing
17:31in Colorado?
17:31I said,
17:32I live here with my family.
17:33My family's from Wyoming.
17:34Wyoming?
17:35Yes, there are black
17:37people in Wyoming.
17:39And so,
17:40they were,
17:41wow,
17:42tell me more.
17:43Paul Newman,
17:44I want to come
17:45and see your ranch,
17:47see your people.
17:48I learned from
17:50sharing my narrative
17:52with filmmakers,
17:53they wanted to know more.
17:56Come, let's go.
17:57The erasure
17:58of the black cowboy
17:59also includes
18:00the erasure
18:01of the black cowgirl.
18:03I think destiny's
18:03coming to you.
18:05Yep.
18:06Stagecoach Mary,
18:07or Mary Fields,
18:08first off,
18:09she was tough.
18:11Ooh.
18:13That's to remind you
18:14what it is.
18:15The cigar smoking,
18:17whiskey drinking,
18:18shotgun toting.
18:20She was the first
18:20African-American woman
18:21to run big routes
18:23out west
18:24for the United States
18:24Postal Service.
18:26She became such
18:26a good shot,
18:27they said that she
18:27could take a fly's wings
18:29off with a bullet.
18:30Go, girl.
18:31Stretch it out.
18:32She left Ohio
18:34to follow a nun
18:35out to Montana
18:37to do laundry
18:38as a slave.
18:39And so what she did
18:40is she wanted
18:41to be outside.
18:42And they said,
18:43no, women don't do that.
18:44You can't do it.
18:45You can't hold
18:45all the leather.
18:46So she said,
18:47I can do it.
18:48I've been washing laundry
18:50so my arms are strong.
18:52Pam,
18:53talk about an icon.
18:55We almost got
18:56Stagecoach Mary
18:57made together.
18:58I wanted her
18:58as my Stagecoach Mary
18:59as I was going
19:00to produce
19:01and direct the show.
19:02And we came close.
19:04The studios thought
19:05that no one
19:06would come to see her
19:06or believe a black
19:07female Stagecoach driver
19:08even though we had
19:09the document,
19:10the narrative,
19:10the books,
19:11and everything.
19:12There's less proof
19:15of what black people
19:16in different roles
19:18looks like
19:18and the success of it.
19:20People are scared
19:21to take chances
19:23where money is involved.
19:25It's all about money,
19:26the profit,
19:28filling the seats.
19:29Come on,
19:30that's joy.
19:31That's pure joy, Mary.
19:32It's just joy.
19:34We don't want
19:35to conflate movies
19:37and actual history.
19:44One of the problems
19:46in this country
19:48is it's too many people
19:49get their history
19:51from the movies.
19:52We need both
19:53actual history
19:54and we need the movies.
20:00Hollywood has a long history
20:01of deciding
20:03what the viewer sees
20:04and doesn't see
20:05and one of the most
20:06standout examples
20:07would be
20:08D.W. Griffith's
20:09The Birth of a Nation,
20:10a film that was made
20:11in 1915
20:11that is horrifically racist
20:13and is really used
20:14to justify the idea
20:15of the Klan
20:16as a virtuistic group.
20:19When you think about
20:20all these ideas
20:21that have existed
20:22in America
20:22for such a long time,
20:24white supremacy,
20:25racism,
20:26now that film
20:27was at this level,
20:28you could promote
20:30some really
20:31reprehensible ideas
20:32that inform society
20:34far beyond the theater.
20:36It marks the rebirth
20:38of the KKK.
20:38The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
20:41become the new cowboy
20:42for the 20th century
20:43and a sense of protection
20:45against the dark forces
20:46that would challenge America.
20:48And those dark forces
20:49include black people.
20:52And then the president
20:54who would ultimately
20:55re-segregate Washington,
20:56Woodrow Wilson,
20:57comes along and decides
20:59he's going to show this film
21:00at the White House,
21:01which gives it
21:02a stamp of approval
21:04from the highest level
21:06of government.
21:17My name is Patricia Kelly
21:19and I'm the president
21:20and CEO
21:21of Ebony Horsewomen.
21:23Ladders, mount your horses.
21:26A little history
21:27about Hartford.
21:29Black people didn't live
21:30in this neighborhood at all.
21:31This was an entirely Jewish
21:33and Italian neighborhood.
21:34We lived in an area
21:35called The Bottom,
21:36which was near
21:37the railroad tracks.
21:39Back in the day,
21:40if you wanted to find
21:41the black community
21:42anywhere in the United States,
21:44you found the railroad tracks.
21:46When I got out
21:46of the Marine Corps,
21:47I was happiest
21:48and most centered
21:50on the back of a horse.
21:51One day,
21:52two little boys ran up to us
21:54and said,
21:54Lady, is that a horse?
21:55Is that a real horse?
21:56I was like,
21:57Oh my God.
21:58We got to do something
21:59about this.
22:00We ask you, Father,
22:01that we bring the riders
22:02and the horses
22:03back safely.
22:05Amen.
22:06Have a good ride, guys.
22:11The kids today
22:12are completely ignorant
22:13of their history,
22:14of who we are,
22:15who we have been,
22:16who we always are.
22:19The pictures
22:20that run through their head
22:22are the pictures
22:23of white cowboys.
22:26They got to be erased.
22:27And the Marlboro Man
22:32is who we think of
22:34as the cowboy
22:34that you most often see
22:37in Hollywood westerns.
22:40They were a breed apart.
22:42Philip Morris,
22:43the British company,
22:44needed something
22:45that tied them
22:46to the imagery of America
22:48and they created
22:49a mascot called
22:50the Marlboro Man.
22:52Everybody knows
22:57the Marlboro Man.
22:58His job
22:59is to sit on a horse
22:59and look cool as hell
23:00and smoke a cigarette.
23:05I'm from Detroit.
23:06When I was a kid,
23:09looking at those images,
23:10the Marlboro Man,
23:12the cowboy,
23:13was just something
23:14I couldn't identify with.
23:18When we were kids
23:19playing cowboys
23:20and Indians,
23:21I was always told
23:22that I couldn't be
23:24the cowboy
23:24because there was
23:25no such thing
23:26as black cowboys.
23:27So I always had
23:28to take a defensive posture
23:30when it came to that notion
23:32that I wanted
23:33to live out my dream.
23:34In the 70s,
23:39the cigarette companies
23:40decided that they wanted
23:41black people
23:42to smoke cigarettes more
23:44and they started to put
23:45this figure
23:47in Ebony Magazine.
23:49It was the exact same guy
23:51in the duster
23:51and the horse,
23:52but he just had
23:53a black face
23:54and that was
23:55the only difference.
23:57Tom Burrell,
23:58one of the first
23:59black creatives
24:00who got a job
24:01at an agency,
24:02period.
24:03When he got
24:04Marlboro as a client,
24:05he saw the Marlboro man
24:07and he felt
24:07that black folks
24:08wouldn't resonate
24:09with the image
24:10of a black cowboy.
24:11It was too foreign.
24:13There was no proof
24:14that this was a truth.
24:16The West,
24:16cowboys,
24:18we couldn't relate
24:19to that.
24:20So we took
24:22that cowboy
24:23and turn that person
24:26into a cool guy
24:28in the neighborhood.
24:29I think now,
24:31if you saw a black man
24:32on a horse
24:33in a campaign,
24:34it would lead to pride
24:35and curiosity
24:37and it would be
24:38an invitation
24:38to black folks
24:40rather than a threat
24:41or a lie.
24:41In 1972,
24:47the documentary
24:48Black Rodeo
24:49shows African-American
24:50rodeo riders
24:51and a traveling rodeo
24:53right up in Harlem
24:54for a Harlem audience.
24:56Have you seen
24:56a rodeo before?
24:57No!
24:58My television!
25:00My television is black!
25:02Out of the blue,
25:03Muhammad Ali shows up
25:04and so you're like,
25:05what?
25:08Even Muhammad Ali,
25:09he was like,
25:10I didn't know
25:11there were colored cowboys.
25:13Even he didn't know that.
25:14And that's Muhammad Ali.
25:16How long have you been
25:17on a horse?
25:18Pretty good, Jeff.
25:18Pretty good, aren't you?
25:19Pretty good.
25:19They never rode a horse before.
25:21The rodeo brings in people
25:22from all over the country
25:23and when you start
25:24seeing those black faces
25:25in those places
25:25where you didn't think
25:26they were welcome,
25:28black people realize,
25:28no, we've always been here.
25:30Come on, Woody.
25:31Come up here.
25:32Please.
25:33I'm on my way to Mexico
25:34to do a Western
25:35with William Holand
25:36and when he said
25:37they're going to have
25:38black cowboys,
25:39I had to stand
25:40once I could watch
25:40all this.
25:41And once you realize
25:42that you've been here,
25:43oh, we here now.
25:44Now you can't tell me shit
25:45because we here now.
25:59It's getting serious
26:00right now,
26:00rodeo fans.
26:01Yeah.
26:09If you haven't been
26:10to a rodeo before
26:11and you get a chance
26:20to go to a black rodeo,
26:22go.
26:22Welcome to my rodeo.
26:25Welcome to my rodeo.
26:27Thanks a lot.
26:28We're going to bring in
26:29the cowboys and cowgirls.
26:31When you nod your head
26:32and they open up the gate,
26:34it's just you and that horse.
26:35Onward.
26:36I want to take control.
26:37I want to cover the horse
26:38for eight seconds.
26:39It is mannequin's beast.
26:45Rodeo is about grit.
26:47When life deals you a hand
26:49that knocks your face
26:51in the dirt,
26:53what you going to do?
26:54You better get up
26:55as quick as you can.
26:59And that's a metaphor for life.
27:04My name is Glenn Turman.
27:07I've been in the
27:08entertainment business,
27:10performing as an actor.
27:11I am a cowboy.
27:20I'm hands on on my ranch.
27:22I do the work around the ranch.
27:23I buck that hay.
27:28Unlike any other sport,
27:31rodeo came out of
27:33working on ranches.
27:39It's in the bloodline.
27:40It's in the history
27:41of the building of this nation.
27:43Breaking horses
27:44and roping cattle
27:45was such an everyday chore
27:46that no one gave it much thought.
27:48With the advent of barbed wire,
27:51cowboying went into the climb.
27:52And a lot of cowboys
27:53didn't need to, like,
27:55keep the herds together
27:56and sort whose cattle was who.
27:59So all of these cowboys
28:00started doing exhibition
28:02of their cowboy skills.
28:04And they were big,
28:05exciting events,
28:06more like a circus
28:07than anything else
28:08that you would see.
28:10Bill Pickett
28:13was one of the early
28:15trick riders,
28:17rodeo riders,
28:18and traveled
28:19and performed
28:20with the Miller Brothers
28:21rodeo circuit.
28:23He was also
28:24one of the first
28:25African-American cowboys
28:26in early silent films.
28:28Bill Pickett
28:29made a game
28:30out of throwing
28:30the tough longhorns around.
28:32And he invented
28:33the sport of bulldogging,
28:35encouraging the steer
28:36to cooperate
28:36by sinking his teeth
28:37into its nose.
28:39Bill Pickett
28:39was a cowboy
28:41who was fundamental
28:42to the formation
28:44of rodeo.
28:45He would jump off
28:46of a horse,
28:47onto a steer,
28:49bite it on the lip,
28:50wrestle it down
28:51to the ground.
28:52People start doing bulldogging
28:54as a competitive event
28:55in rodeo.
28:56But at the same time,
28:57Bill Pickett
28:58is not allowed
28:59to compete.
29:00Black people
29:01used these cowboying
29:03skills in their
29:04day-to-day jobs,
29:05and white people
29:06commodified it,
29:07turned it into a show,
29:09and did not allow
29:11black people to compete.
29:15Black athletes
29:16were not allowed
29:17to compete
29:17in mainstream
29:19white rodeos
29:20because of racism,
29:22because of Jim Crow.
29:23There's a cowboy
29:24named Jess Stahl
29:26in the state of Oregon,
29:27and he was so good
29:30at riding broncos
29:31that the white athletes
29:33didn't want him
29:33to compete
29:34because they wouldn't
29:35win any money.
29:36So Jess Stahl
29:37would be allowed
29:37to come to the rodeo
29:38as an exhibition act,
29:40but he never really
29:41got to compete
29:42for the money
29:43that his white
29:44counterparts did.
29:47Just because you may
29:48have been the best
29:48cowboy in the room
29:50doesn't mean that you
29:50would have gotten
29:51acknowledged for that.
29:52Black people's
29:53accomplishments were
29:54either being lessened
29:55or just completely erased.
29:57You couldn't let
29:58the public see
29:59a black man
30:01doing something
30:02as well or better
30:04than a white man,
30:05and that included
30:07being a cowboy.
30:09And so black people
30:10started their own rodeos.
30:13We ask all our cowboys
30:14and men to remove
30:15your cover
30:16as the African-American flag
30:18comes into the arena.
30:19This flag represents
30:22the pride, history,
30:24and accomplishments
30:25of the African-American
30:27community.
30:31I am the president
30:33and CEO of the Bill
30:34Pickett Invitational Rodeo.
30:37That's a simple way
30:38of saying I'm the owner.
30:39My deceased husband,
30:44Lou Vassan,
30:44went to a rodeo
30:45in Cheyenne, Wyoming
30:47one day,
30:48and he did not see
30:50any participants
30:52that looked like him.
30:54There were thousands
30:56of black cowboys
30:58and cowgirls
30:59across the United States,
31:01but they were not
31:02given the platform
31:03to showcase their skills.
31:05Ready, I'm fan.
31:06Ready, I'm fan.
31:07It's just like
31:12everything else in history.
31:13What you don't want
31:14to be known,
31:15you erase it.
31:17You don't tell it.
31:20We're leading the way
31:21and opening the doors
31:23for people to see
31:24that black cowboys
31:25and cowgirls
31:26can compete
31:27on the level
31:28of anybody else.
31:31Hey, everybody!
31:33Hey, Spanky!
31:35Oh, yeah!
31:38Woo-hoo!
31:40I've always been
31:41a city boy.
31:42I never knew
31:43back then
31:45that there were
31:45black cowboys.
31:47Then I went
31:47a little bit further
31:48and thought,
31:49how many black rodeo clowns
31:51are there out there?
31:52And I found out
31:53there's not many at all.
31:54You're bringing you
31:55the stair wrestling event
31:56named after Bill Dickens.
31:59Oh, that stair there
32:00just said, psych!
32:02I'll give him a gatorade!
32:04I'm learning a lot
32:05about these iconic
32:07black figures.
32:09Bill Pickett,
32:09Bass Reeves,
32:10Stagecoach Mary,
32:12these famous
32:13Afro-American cowboys
32:15that helped shape America.
32:18That inspires me
32:19each and every day.
32:22And I think it's our job
32:24and our duty
32:25to show people of color
32:28this is the real history
32:30right here.
32:30The Bill Pickett
32:37Invitational Rodeo
32:38is the biggest,
32:40best,
32:41black rodeo
32:42in the country.
32:44You ready?
32:45I'm going to do this shit,
32:46baby.
32:47Let's make it happen.
32:48Ready,
32:49like pretty.
32:52Well, look how she's
32:54riding in the saddle
32:55right there.
32:56This is from the
32:58Bill Pickett Invitational
32:59Rodeo
32:59from the Ladies
33:00Bell Wrestling Champion.
33:04Kind of like big trophies
33:05that you can just wear
33:06on your belt.
33:07All right,
33:07here's the cat girl,
33:09Paris Wheelburn,
33:10Austin, Arkansas.
33:13I just love horses.
33:15They can understand
33:16your body language
33:17and how you're feeling
33:19and it just amazes me.
33:20When Paris was seven,
33:24she won all-around
33:25tail girl.
33:27I mean,
33:27hat was hanging
33:28over her eyes,
33:29could barely see,
33:30you know,
33:30small,
33:31and I was like,
33:32wow,
33:32Paris is really good.
33:38She has a hashtag
33:39on her car,
33:40on her truck,
33:41and on her horse trailer,
33:42and it says
33:43hashtag black girl magic.
33:45Most of the time
33:46at the rodeo,
33:47I'm like the only
33:48black girl,
33:49and so when people
33:50see black girl magic,
33:51they're like,
33:51who is that?
33:52Who is that?
33:53And so when I come out
33:54and win,
33:54it's just like,
33:54yeah,
33:55I have black girl magic
33:56in me.
33:56Yes, yes, yes!
34:00The name is
34:01Paris Wilbur,
34:02the number one
34:03cowgirl!
34:10African Americans
34:11can do everything
34:12that they want to,
34:13and I'm representing
34:14something so big,
34:15and it's something
34:16that I'm passionate about,
34:17something that I
34:18will never forget,
34:19it'll be a big history
34:20for me.
34:21Like, I'll just feel like,
34:22wow, I'm really that
34:23person to look up to
34:24in a horror
34:25as an African-American
34:26cowgirl.
34:33The thing about
34:33black cowboy culture
34:35is very soulful.
34:37You know,
34:37we got our own
34:38spin on things,
34:39you know,
34:40and we always have.
34:41When they wear
34:43that title,
34:44their chest
34:45is stuck out.
34:46they got a little
34:48cockiness about him.
34:50Give it up for
34:51Mr. Marcus, first, sir!
34:52And they're saying,
34:54bring it on
34:55if you think you can
34:56do better.
34:57better known as
35:03greatest show on dirt.
35:13He told me nothing scares
35:14a white man more
35:15than seeing a black man
35:16on a horse.
35:18Why?
35:20Because they have to
35:21look up at him.
35:21We've had black westerns,
35:27we've had black cast films,
35:29we've had a robust,
35:30independent black film
35:32industry who've been
35:33telling different types
35:34of black stories,
35:35even when Hollywood
35:36hasn't acknowledged
35:37our existence.
35:39Sidney Poitier
35:40got me into westerns
35:41when I discovered
35:42Buck and the Preacher,
35:43this 1972 film
35:45that was his
35:46directorial debut
35:47that he produced
35:48along with his co-star,
35:50Harry Belafonte.
35:52What the hell
35:52are you doing?
35:53Get down off your horse.
35:54So I was really excited,
35:55I was like,
35:56oh my God,
35:56there's a black western
35:57and there's like
35:59Native American,
36:00African American
36:01coalition against
36:02the white supremacists,
36:04like how cool is that?
36:08Some of my favorite times
36:10was with Sidney Poitier.
36:12I would watch him
36:13quick draw
36:13in his dressing room
36:15as he was practicing.
36:17So I'd just sit
36:18on the floor
36:18and just watch him
36:20quick draw
36:21because I always
36:23wanted to be a cowboy.
36:24Black directors
36:25like Sidney Poitier
36:27were dismantling
36:28the myth
36:29by giving us
36:30a picture,
36:32a slice of history
36:33in these western stories,
36:36in these western narratives.
36:38When I first saw
36:39Buck and the Preacher
36:40and realized
36:41that this truly amazing
36:44piece of cinema
36:45and representation
36:46wasn't even taught
36:48to me
36:49as a young man,
36:51a further robbery
36:52in a way.
36:57Now we got movies
36:58that properly reflect
36:59what western culture
37:00used to look like.
37:01You got guys like
37:02James Samuel
37:02redefining genres
37:04back and forth,
37:05you know what I'm saying?
37:05You have movies
37:06where you see
37:07the black man
37:07being the hero.
37:09Look at the
37:09magnificent summer
37:10remake with Denzel.
37:11Easy.
37:12I got a family, mister.
37:14It got off without you.
37:18Progress.
37:19It's gonna happen.
37:20Change is gonna happen.
37:23I think that we're
37:24seeing a resurgence,
37:25at least in popular media,
37:27of black cowboys
37:28and black westerns,
37:29partly because
37:30I think we're at a moment
37:31in society
37:32where blackness
37:33is being understood
37:34to be more expansive
37:36than most popular
37:38representations have
37:39depicted in the past.
37:40People are hungry
37:41to see blackness
37:42in all of its forms,
37:44blackness in all
37:44of its diversity.
37:46And in a way,
37:47black cowboy culture
37:48is one of the
37:49most underrepresented
37:50aspects of the
37:51black experience.
37:53Get close to two
37:55till the three
37:55till the four
37:56Tell them bring another
37:57round, we need plenty more
37:59Who's stepping on the table
38:00She don't need a thanks for
38:02Oh my, good lord
38:05Some gon' pour me
38:06up a double shot
38:07of whiskey
38:07They know me and Jay
38:09Jackdown's got a history
38:10There's a party downtown
38:12near a few streets
38:13Everybody at the bar
38:15get tipsy
38:16I hope that it leads
38:18to reclamation
38:19across the board
38:20I hope that younger
38:22black generations
38:23are inspired to learn
38:25about black contributions
38:26in all industries
38:28and all genres
38:28and all spaces
38:29The idea that black people
38:31only exist in urban centers
38:32is a myth
38:34Some gon' pour me up
38:36a double shot of whiskey
38:37Little me and Jackdown's
38:39got a history
38:40At the bottom of a bottle
38:42don't miss me
38:43Everybody at the bar
38:45get tipsy
38:46Everybody at the bar
38:51get tipsy
38:52Everybody at the bar
38:57get tipsy
38:58Anything that can be grasped
39:04once it is shown to be
39:06successful or something
39:07to be wanted or desired
39:09black people's possession
39:10of it becomes only an invitation
39:12for it to be grabbed
39:13Land is very important
39:21to the cowboy story
39:23Buying land
39:26I felt like that was essential
39:27to me and my legacy
39:30We're seeing this return
39:31back to the land right now
39:32and I think it is
39:33the boomerang
39:34of the great migration
39:35But the idea of
39:37black people owning land
39:38that is what keeps
39:39this like terror
39:41in white America
39:42And so as America
39:44is convincing us
39:45that all cowboys are white
39:46it's also pushing
39:47black people off of land
39:48so it almost becomes true
39:53And the reason I think
39:55that everyone is
39:58Zandai is even
39:58like the forced
40:04to live in a way
40:05when do you know
40:06about some
40:07do you believe
40:07like there's a
40:07LP
40:11there's a
40:13x
40:15there's a
40:18such
40:20level
40:20of
40:22up
40:22These
40:23Transcription by CastingWords
40:53CastingWords
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