Afroamerykańskie rodeo - Media Drum

This cowboy swings his lasso at an event in Birmingham, Alabama. ATLANTA, GEORGIA: THIS PHOTOGRAPHER has captured pictures of the modern-day black rodeo circuit to pay homage to the untold stories of African-American COWBOYS. In one striking photograph taken in Birmingham, Alabama, two black males donned Stetsons as they sat atop their horses with the Birmingham skyline in the background. Another photograph which was taken in Columbia, South Carolina, shows a cowboy sat in the doorway of his trailer, wearing a traditional dress including chaps and boots. Photographer, Forest McMullin (66) from Atlanta, Georgia, USA, set out to explore the largely ignored history of African-American cowboys in the United States. During his search, he found a dedicated circuit of contemporary practitioners honouring their historical lineage. In the early 1800s, white settlers travelled to Texas in the pursuit of cheap land bringing their slaves with them. By 1860, reportedly 30 per cent of Texas? population was made up of African-American slaves. Texas soon after joined the confederacy in 1861 and many white Texans left the state to take up arms in the American Civil War. During this time, maintaining cattle herds and land was left to the slaves and so, many acquired a series of useful skills. When the Emancipation Proclamation was announced, white land-owners hired the recently-freed African-Americans to now tend the land for a wage. mediadrumworld.com / Forest McMullin