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July 31, 2019 11:45 AM
The Black Yeehaw: Fashion and History at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
Everything was standard rodeo—mostly. At the 35th annual Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, held in Oakland in mid-July, there was bull-riding, barrel racing, and steer roping, with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” playing five or six times throughout the day. But where most rodeos open the show with a grandiose display of patriotism—you know, a convocation of bald eagles flying across the sky with fireworks exploding and at least one little boy, cowboy hat to his heart, shedding a single tear—the BPIR did something different.

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The Black Yeehaw: Fashion and History at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo
ALEXANDER-JULIAN GIBBSON
ALEX WELSH
July 31, 2019 11:45 AM
Image may contain: Human, Person, Clothing, Apparel, Animal, Equestrian, Horse, and Mammal
Michael Walker, 18. Shirt & pants, SSS World Corp. Hat, Stetson.
Every year, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo travels the country, celebrating the legacy of the black cowboy. We brought some of the coolest Western-inspired fashion to the tour's Oakland stop and met the cowboys and cowgirls carrying on the tradition.
Everything was standard rodeo—mostly. At the 35th annual Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, held in Oakland in mid-July, there was bull-riding, barrel racing, and steer roping, with Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” playing five or six times throughout the day. But where most rodeos open the show with a grandiose display of patriotism—you know, a convocation of bald eagles flying across the sky with fireworks exploding and at least one little boy, cowboy hat to his heart, shedding a single tear—the BPIR did something different.

For the event’s 35th anniversary, as it’s done every year before that, the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo opted for a display devoid of eagles, fireworks, and crying children. Instead, promptly at 2:30 in the afternoon, Stephanie Haynes, the winningest cowgirl in BPIR history, rode down the highest hill of Alameda County’s Rowell Ranch carrying the American flag. Every year Haynes, dressed in bedazzled chaps and denim to match, gallops into the center arena on horseback to Ray Charles’s rendition of “America the Beautiful,” followed by a younger cowboy or cowgirl—this year Raemia Clemons had the honor—with another flag in tow: David Hammons's iconic African American flag, which the artist famously flew at a Swedish art show entitled “Black USA” in 1990. Once they made it into the arena, the black national anthem played on the loudspeaker, and everybody stood. This is the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo: the largest and longest-running touring rodeo celebrating black cowboys and cowgirls and their contributions to the American west.
[Edited 8/2/20 20:57pm]

For those who have never been to South Central Los Angeles, a mention of the city of Compton might bring to mind the sounds of gangsta rap.

But for author and journalist Walter Thompson-Hernández, there’s something else that comes straight out of Compton: black cowboys. It’s a city where the strong bonds between black men are built through the diligent care of horses.

In his new book, "The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland," Thompson-Hernández chronicles the lives of 10 friends continuing the legacy of the original Compton Cowboys who for more than 30 years were a mainstay in the city. These cowboys also made their life's work teaching young kids in South Central LA about the possibilities and power of healing through horsemanship.

Getting into zydeco I'm seeing some new things.