Barrel racer Kortnee Solomon on her horse at her home in Hempstead, Texas.
Black rodeo culture has been overlooked. This photographer wants to change that
Photographs by Ivan McClellan
Story by Kara Nelson, CNN
Published March 29, 2024
Barrel racer Kortnee Solomon on her horse at her home in Hempstead, Texas.
A horn blares, the stall gate opens, and out comes a raging 2,000-pound bull, bucking its hind legs wildly to knock a rodeo rider off its back.
Red dirt fills the air as the crowd cheers, and a countdown begins. For the rider, everything in the world narrows down to the next eight seconds.
They must remain on the bull for those critical seconds. Survive that long, and then they’re judged on how well they ride — the wildest ride earns the highest score.
“It’s a time frame that these cowboys live and die by,” said photographer Ivan McClellan, who has spent nearly a decade documenting Black riders in and outside of the rodeo ring.
McClellan said his debut book, “Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture,” is inspired by the adrenaline-pumping high stakes of rodeo culture. His camera captures the look of determination as the rider fights to stay mounted, one hand gripping a rope while their free arm swings uncontrollably in the air.
Growing up in Kansas City, McClellan remembers listening to his grandmother relive stories from her childhood on a hog farm — but she wanted a different life for her family.
“She just kind of viewed that rural country cowboy living to be something that we should avoid,” he said.
But he couldn’t escape the allure of the cowboy lifestyle forever.
His first introduction to Black rodeo culture came in 2015 when he traveled to a small town in Oklahoma with a Black rodeo documentarian, Charles Perry.
“I saw thousands of Black cowboys that were listening to hip-hop, that had braids, and long acrylic nails,” McClellan remembered.
“They were frying chicken, cooking turkey legs and doing the Cupid Shuffle in the dirt,” he told CNN. “It was cowboy culture, mixed with Black culture in a way that I never knew existed.”
Although the experience was new for McClellan, rodeos have long been influenced by Black culture, according to historians.
“Black cowboys have always been a part of the American West,” said Tracey Owens Patton, a professor at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming, and co-author of the book “Gender, Whiteness and Power in Rodeo.”
Patton said the contributions of Indigenous people, African Americans and Latinos to the culture of the American West have been overshadowed by popular depictions of cowboys as White men, like the “Marlboro Man.”
“Rodeo culture has a very cross-cultural beginning and most people around the world don't realize that,” Patton told CNN.
McClellan said he still sees this disparity and lack of representation today when it comes to rodeo athletes, and he aims to correct the misconception with his book.
He traveled the country to document the rawness of Black rodeo culture. His journey brought him to rodeos, stables and family ranches in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas and California — where he spent time with the famed Compton Cowboys at their Los Angeles ranch.
“I hope that young people seeing this (book), it'll light a lot of them up, hopefully get them on horses and get them involved,” he said.
In the blood
As word spread about McClellan’s work, Ronda Howard, a mother from McCalla, Alabama, invited the photographer to her family’s ranch.
A week later, McClellan said he found himself there, watching her son, then 13-year-old Rodney Howard, ride one of his Tennessee Walking Horses. McClellan said the Walking Horse is like the “Cadillac of horses” because of the steed’s smooth trot and pace.
“I was taking pictures of him and then all of a sudden, Rodney rode up to his mom and just swooped his sister out of her arms and rode off at full speed,” McClellan recalled. “I just thought, ‘Wow, this is the culture at work.’”
Rodney told CNN he remembers riding even when he was a toddler. He now competes professionally and has won multiple awards at rodeo events. He sees the same future for his little sister, Riley.
“She's been loving horses since she first saw one,” Rodney said. “Ever since then, when I get on the horse, she asks if she can get on.”
McClellan said he’s found that a passion for horseback riding spans generations across many of the families he’s photographed over the years.
Rodney told CNN he takes after his grandfather, Ronald Howard, and considers himself a true cowboy.
“It’s just in the blood,” he said.
‘Cowboy’
While riders might boldly declare themselves cowboys and cowgirls today, the title wasn’t always a source of pride or a term of endearment, according to historians.
There was time in history where white Americans in rodeo were called “cowhands,” Patton told CNN, while Black Americans were referred to as “cowboys.”
Patton said historically, the word “boy” had a racist, pejorative connotation. “A cowhand was supposed to be above a cowboy,” she said.
Over time, regardless of race, most people became referred to as cowboys, Patton said.
Black cowboys, like Willie “Bill” Pickett, helped create some of the most popular rodeo events that exist today. Patton said Pickett became known for his skill at taming a steer by wrestling it to the ground and biting down on its nose and lower lip.
The trademark move helped create the “bulldogging” rodeo event, now known as “steer wrestling,” where riders compete to chase down a steer, dropping off their horse to wrestle the young ox to the ground.
Despite establishing this rodeo event, Pickett was often discredited and not allowed to compete at rodeos because he was Black.
“Sometimes he would dress as a toreador from Mexico to try to be able to have his ride,” Patton told CNN.
More than 50 years after his death, Pickett became the first African American inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 1989. Still, McClellan said despite the progress that’s been made in the sport, many Black rodeo athletes do not get the same opportunities as their White counterparts.
“It’s really given me a sense of purpose to get these stories out there, to make this known and to create equity in the rodeo space.”
The Super Bowl of Black rodeos
McClellan said he’s come to appreciate the food and fashion that characterizes Black rodeos — and the music. A mix of country, R&B and hip-hop blasts through the speakers and helps transition between the rodeo events.
“The crowd is moving and grooving in a way that you don't see at other rodeos,” he said.
The photographer said he’s also found at most Black rodeos — especially in the South — that riders aren't so much there to win as they are there to show off what they can do.
“Of course, they want to win the money and do their best, but if they do lose, it was a good time hanging out with friends,” he said. “There's a real community feel to it.”
The Roy Leblanc Invitational Rodeo in Oklahoma is the longest-running Black rodeo in the country.
“It happens every year — it's kind of the Super Bowl of Black rodeos,” McClellan said. The event starts with a prayer; what happens next is a moment that makes the competition truly unique, the photographer told CNN.
“The first thing that comes out is the African American flag, or the Pan-African flag, and somebody sings, ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ ” McClellan said, referring to the song that’s known as the Black National Anthem.
“The crowd stands up and everybody takes off their hat. It’s a beautiful moment to celebrate Black culture.”
‘People of integrity’
While it is safer to remain outside of the fences, McClellan's determination to capture the thrill of the ride often takes him inside the ring — even for bull riding, which he said he’s found can be one of the most dangerous rodeo events.
“Sometimes to get the shot you really want, you got to get in there and take the risk,” McClellan told CNN. “But the minute that (the rider) hits the ground, you've got to run for your life and jump over the fence.”
There’s also bareback riding, an event similar to bull riding where the rider trades a raging bull for a bronco.
“(The rider) lays all the way back on that bronco, just sort of stays loose and flops around on the back of that horse for eight seconds,” McClellan explained. “Their hat always flies off.”
Over the last decade, McClellan said he’s fallen in love with Black rodeo culture, and the genuine camaraderie that it brings.
“I came into this culture as a complete outsider and people embraced me like family and have invited me into their homes and on their ranches,” he said.
McClellan hopes his photos accurately capture the diehard and relentless spirit of being a cowboy.
“Cowboys are people of integrity,” he said. “They do what they say, and they say what they do. They got a lot of grit.”
“These are folks that you should root for, and these are folks that you should care about.”
“Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture,” published by Damiani, is now available.