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Celebrating America’s legendary black rodeo community – Blind Magazine

Celebrating America’s legendary black rodeo community – Blind Magazine

In 2015, photographer Ivan McClellan received an invitation that would change his life: a chance to attend the Roy LeBlanc Invitational, the longest-running black rodeo in the United States, with Charles Perry, director and producer of The black cowboya documentary produced in 2016. He arrived in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, a small town on a Creek Indian Reservation, in late August as temperatures rose to 41 °C (105 °F) with 100% humidity.

Hundreds of Black Americans from across the country came to the event and sat in the shade where they barbecued, drank beer and caught up with friends. Hip-hop, R&B and gospel music filled the air, blinding cowboy hats glittered like disco balls during line dances like the Cupid Shuffle, as the energy began to build as the rodeo began just before nightfall.

Patrick Liddell, Las Vegas, Nevada.  © Ivan McClellan
Patrick Liddell, Las Vegas, Nevada. © Ivan McClellan

As McClellan took it all in, he was immediately transported back to his early years in Kansas City, Kansas. He grew up in a working-class neighborhood that was both city and country. At the front, gang members hung out in the streets, while at the back, McClellan and his sister chased lightning bugs through the summer fields. There were chickens roaming a neighbor’s backyard, and some people even had cows and horses.

But McClellan would never have thought of describing his neighbors as cowboys or ranchers, because by then their image had been so thoroughly whitewashed that they were virtually erased from the pages of American history. Despite the fact that the term “cowboy” was originally a swear word used by white ranchers to degrade black cowhands after the Civil War, when freedmen reached the open ranges, making up 25% of the labor force in the South and expanding into the West.

Cowboy culture, which has its roots in 16th century Mexico, flourished with the opening of the American frontier. The myth of the Old West was forged between 1865 and 1890 by outlaws, prospectors, settlers and cowboys who cast their lot in the golden plains and majestic purple mountains that had been carefully managed by native peoples for thousands of years.

Rodeo Queen, Okmulgee, Oklahoma.  © Ivan McClellan
Rodeo Queen, Okmulgee, Oklahoma. © Ivan McClellan
Rodney & RJ, McCalla, AL.  © Ivan McClellan
Rodney & RJ, McCalla, AL. © Ivan McClellan

During that time, one man became a legend for bringing order to the chaos on the plains: the Lone Ranger, a fictional character based on Bass Reeves, the first black deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi. Born into slavery in 1838, Reeves won his freedom after defeating a slave owner in hand-to-hand combat before disappearing to the frontier, where he lived among the Cherokee, Seminole and Creek. In 1875, Reeves took over his post and arrested more than 3,000 criminals over 32 years.

Westerns became extremely popular in the early 20th century as films emerged as the dominant form of pop culture. With the closing of the border, the cowboy was elevated to the American archetype, embodying the spirit of rugged individualism. But for far too long its layered history has remained untold.

Eight seconds

While the history of black cowboys has been largely erased, the culture lived on in the people, whose communities are connected to the land. And on that day in August 2015, Ivan McClellan rediscovered something that had always stuck with him – and he was hooked.

Over the next decade, McClellan embarked on an odyssey to write his debut monograph, Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture (published by Damiani Books), travels to every corner of the country to photograph America’s black cowboys and cowgirls who carry on the tradition of their ancestors who built the nation from the ground up.

Whether she’s photographing teen cowgirl sensation Kortnee Solomon at her family’s stables in Texas, capturing bull riding champion Ouncie Mitchell in action, or working with the Compton Cowboys at their Los Angeles ranch, McClellan chronicles the extraordinary athletes that preserve the magic and majesty of the ‘ancient past’. West” lives with a high octane of courage, strength and skill.

Jadayia Kursh, Okmulgee, Oklahoma.  © Ivan McClellan
Jadayia Kursh, Okmulgee, Oklahoma. © Ivan McClellan
Girl on the Horse: Kortnee Solomon, Hempstead, Texas © Ivan McClellan
Girl on the Horse: Kortnee Solomon, Hempstead, Texas © Ivan McClellan

The title of the book, Eight seconds, refers to the sport of bull riding: athletes must stay on a bull for a total of eight seconds while it bucks, and the more hectic the ride, the higher they score. It’s an apt metaphor for McClellan’s dedication to this massive documentary project, which required him to hone his reflexes, stamina and endurance to get the shot.

Of Eight seconds, selections of which are now on view at Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, McClellan honors the highest ideals of independence, integrity and courage with intimate photographs that preserve the deep-rooted connections between the people and the land.

American Requiem

The work of Ivan McClellan Eight seconds didn’t stop when he put the camera down at night; instead, he understood that his journey had only just begun. When he began working with Western heritage brands to reach black audiences, he saw an opportunity to provide financial opportunities for the athletes themselves. He hired them for photo shoots, the jobs to fund a sport whose high costs make the barriers to entry extremely high.

During his son’s fourth birthday party, a friend named Vince Jones suggested that McClellan bring cowboys to Portland, where he lives and works. “I thought, what if we did a rodeo? When he was like, yeah, let’s do this as a rodeo, very casually,” McClellan says. “I don’t think either of us were fully aware of how complex that was, but we just said, let’s do it.”

Bull Riders, Rosenberg, Texas.  © Ivan McClellan
Bull Riders, Rosenberg, Texas. © Ivan McClellan

In June 2023, just six months later, they launched the first Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo in Portland, which happens to be the whitest major city in the United States. But Oregon’s capital didn’t become this way by chance. When it entered the Union in 1859, it became the only state to explicitly ban black people from becoming residents.

Today, Portland is still 72% white, while black residents make up just 6% of the city’s 652,000 residents. Despite, or perhaps because of, this imbalance, spectators came out in droves when they heard the rodeo had come to town.

McClellan remembers walking into the arena before the rodeo began putting up a final sponsor banner before the show started. He remembers turning around and seeing that the crowd of 2,500 people had arrived early and they were all in their seats. The predominantly black audience arrived in style, showing off their outfits, reconnecting with friends and creating a space for community among dedicated fans and novices.

“The first year we had about 30 athletes participate,” McClellan said. “They came from California, Oklahoma and all the way from Florida. We spoke to each athlete personally, I told them who I was and what we did. We were a completely unknown entity and it was a very big task to get people to travel across the Rockies with their horses and trailers. That’s why we gave away $60,000 in prize money. We wanted to give them a really big payday. We paid people’s gas money. We did whatever it took to get them out of here.”

Cover of Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture (Damiani Books, 2024).  Photos © Ivan McClellan
Cover of Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture (Damiani Books, 2024). Photos © Ivan McClellan

Rural soul

This year, the second annual Eight Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo was held on June 16 to a sold-out 7,200-person arena at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland. With the new edition, Ivan McClellan took his vision to new heights by bringing in three production companies to build out the experience so attendees can enjoy the full Black rodeo experience.

With the rodeo, McClellan is blazing a trail that bridges photography, sports, culture, style and community through the lens of the Black experience. It’s a moment whose time has come, as evidenced by the fervent release of Beyoncé’s latest album, Cowboy Carter.

“The book is an artifact of experience,” says McClellan. “The comment I hear most from people is the feeling of being taken somewhere and catching the wave of excitement in the day’s activities. This is also the first time many people have seen the work offline, and the ability to live with a photo for a long time is something that really appeals to them. Many people who buy it have never bought a photo book before.”

Ring: Bobby Prince, Boley, Oklahoma © Ivan McClellan
Ring: Bobby Prince, Boley, Oklahoma © Ivan McClellan
Dontez & Floss, Okmulgee, Oklahoma.  © Ivan McClellan
Dontez & Floss, Okmulgee, Oklahoma. © Ivan McClellan
Marland Burke, Brandon Alexander, James Pickens Jr.  Los Angeles, California.  © Ivan McClellan
Marland Burke, Brandon Alexander, James Pickens Jr. Los Angeles, California. © Ivan McClellan

It’s truly a full-circle moment for McClellan, who remembers countless trips to Barnes & Noble bookstores in New York in the early 2000s, pulling out photo albums and taking long, leisurely looks at the latest photography monographs.

“I sat there with a stack of photo albums and fell asleep until they closed,” McClellan remembers. “Now when I go into a Barnes & Noble and see my own work, I imagine another 20-year-old kid will be able to experience it. That means a lot to me.”

Eight seconds: black rodeo culture is published by Damiani Books, $49.95

Ivan McClellan: Eight seconds is on view through June 29, 2024 at Blue Sky, the Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts in Portland, OR

The second annual Eight seconds of Juneteenth Rodeo was held June 16, 2024 at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, OR