A photographer documented Black cowboys across the U.S. for a new book
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Photographer Ivan McClellan has spent nearly a decade documenting Black cowboys. His new book, "Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture, " is out next week. The title refers to the minimum amount of time a rider has to stay on an animal to get points from the judges.
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IVAN MCCLELLAN: It's a time that people live and die by. It's a time that you could get injured. It's a time that you could win thousands of dollars. It's a time that you prepare for weeks and years and your entire life for. That interval can last forever, seemingly, to the person on the back of an animal.
FADEL: Our co-host A Martínez spoke with McClellan about his journey traveling across the country to change perceptions around a culture and events that have long been overlooked.
MCCLELLAN: When the event starts, a singer comes out and sings "Lift Every Voice And Sing."
UNIDENTIFIED MUSICAL ARTIST: (Singing) Sing a song full of the hope that the present he has brought...
MCCLELLAN: And a rider rides around the arena with a green, black and red flag. And everybody stands up, and they take off their hat. And it's just this moment in America to absolutely recognize and celebrate Blackness. And that's something incredibly unique.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
You grew up in Kansas City, right? I mean, I can imagine maybe not in the city itself, but in the outskirts, there had to be a lot of rodeo kind of life.
MCCLELLAN: Yeah. There's a big rodeo in Kansas City called the American Royal, and we would go down there every year. You know, the thing that I remember the most as a kid was the smell. You would go in there and just get hit by the smell of the animals and the manure. And, you know, the other thing that really resonated for me for that rodeo was that everybody there was white. It wasn't a place that we felt like we belong.
MARTÍNEZ: So, Ivan, I grew up in Los Angeles. Have you heard of the Compton Cowboys?
MCCLELLAN: Absolutely, yeah. I'm good friends with the Compton Cowboys. I've photographed them.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, Black cowboys that live in Compton, Calif., the home of West Coast rap music, right? But the funny thing is, I remember as a little kid, when I saw them for the first time, I was surprised. And I think it has to do with just popular culture inundating my little brain with the image of the white cowboy. Was it the same effect for you? - like, thinking, oh, my gosh. Wait. I've never seen this before, because America and the media hadn't fed me a full picture yet.
MCCLELLAN: Yeah. I mean, the term cowboy for me meant John Wayne.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RED RIVER")
JOHN WAYNE: (As Thomas Dunson) Get down off them horses. I don't favor looking up to the likes of you.
MCCLELLAN: It meant Doc Holliday in "Tombstone."
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VAL KILMER: (As Doc Holliday) You're a daisy if you do.
MCCLELLAN: There was Sheriff Bart in "Blazing saddles.".
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GENE WILDER: (As Jim) Look at that.
CLEAVON LITTLE: (As Sheriff Bart) Steady as a rock.
WILDER: (As Jim) Yeah. But I shoot with this hand.
MCCLELLAN: But I really thought that term was a joke when applied to a Black person.
MARTÍNEZ: One thing that was kind of a shock for me to learn is that the term cowboy used to be a pejorative term for Black riders. Tell us about that and how that worked.
MCCLELLAN: Yeah. It was a term specifically used for Black men. You know, if you were a white man, you were a cowhand or a cattle-puncher. If you were a Mexican, you were a vaquero or a charro. But if you were Black, you were called a cowboy, because, you know, you would call a Black man a boy. And this was a post-slavery term used for a lot of Black folks that had these skills of working farms and working the land that were now being paid to work on ranches and farms.
MARTÍNEZ: And you crisscrossed the country - right? - meeting Black cowboys.
MCCLELLAN: Yeah. There are Black cowboys pretty much everywhere. I mean, there are Black cowboys here in Portland, Ore., where I live, which I think is the last place that I would have expected to find them. I went all the way to Oklahoma to realize that there were cowboys up the road from me who have been there for generations. Of course, it is most prominent in Texas and Oklahoma. And across the South, you'll find riding clubs and people that work with horses down there.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, there's a rodeo that's nicknamed the Super Bowl of Black rodeo. So tell us about that, especially the way it kicks off.
MCCLELLAN: It's the Roy Leblanc Invitational Rodeo in Okmulgee, Okla. And as far as cultural impact, there's nothing like the Roy Leblanc Invitational Rodeo. On the second weekend in August, at about 8 p.m., when the sun is going down, everything is golden. All the athletes are filing into the arena for the grand entry. And that is where I like to take photos more than anywhere else on the entire planet.
MARTÍNEZ: Was it a revelation for you? Did you think, oh, my goodness - I can't believe it - I've never heard of this before?
MCCLELLAN: I hadn't heard about it at all. Somebody told me about it, and I thought they were messing with me. And I went. It was 105 degrees, and I saw thousands of Black cowboys. And they were doing the Cupid Shuffle in the dirt, and they were cooking turkey legs. And there were Black folks dressed like traditional cowboys. There were also Black folks riding their horses in Jordans and women riding with their braids blowing behind them and their hands with long acrylic nails clutching the reins.
MARTÍNEZ: Why do you think this culture has been overlooked?
MCCLELLAN: I think the cowboy in America is a shorthand for our noblest ideals. It's a representation of independence and grit and nobility and a lot of these things that popular culture is hesitant to attribute to a Black person. You know, I think it's erasure, but I'm excited to see that transforming before my eyes.
MARTÍNEZ: I think of Beyonce's album, "Cowboy Carter," that's out right now. And I think people are thinking, well, Black cowboy culture is having a moment. But I even go back as far as 2018, when Lil Nas X came out with "Old Town Road."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OLD TOWN ROAD")
LIL NAS X: (Singing) Yeah. I'm going to take my horse to the old town road. I'm going to ride till I can't no more.
MCCLELLAN: Yeah. I remember they played it at a rodeo that I was at. It was the Country Boyz rodeo in Bristow, Okla., and the DJ played that song, and the crowd went crazy. I think Beyonce is not only revealing Black cowboy culture, but she's transforming country music forever and tearing down genres in a way that I don't think has ever been done.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. I think Lil Nas X probably set it up, but then Beyonce slammed it home.
MCCLELLAN: Exactly. Yeah. It was a perfect alley-oop. And Beyonce is hanging on the rim right now.
MARTÍNEZ: (Laughter) That's photojournalist Ivan McClellan. Thanks a lot.
MCCLELLAN: All right. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TEXAS HOLD 'EM")
BEYONCE: (Singing) This ain't Texas, ain't no hold 'em. So lay your cards down, down...
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