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“The story of the black cowboy began when our ancestors were brought to this country against their will. Many of them were adept with horses. The first Kentucky Derbies were won by black jockeys. One out of four cowboys in The West were black. But you never see that in the movies. My father was a sharecropper. When I was a young boy he would put me on the back of a horse and direct me where to plow. Eventually I became so skilled that I tried my hand at the rodeo circuit. But I soon learned that a black cowboy could sit on a bull for half a day and still not win any prize money. I ended up getting a doctorate from St. Johns, and over the years I worked at several different universities. But I kept running into colleagues who didn’t believe there was such a thing as a black cowboy. And that wasn’t going to stand. So in 1984 I organized The Black World Championship Rodeo. Nobody thought it could be done. It was the first rodeo ever held in a US urban city. But I got all the permits. I covered all the expenses from my own pocket. We flew in all the best black cowboys from around the country, and we flew them first class. We held our first rodeo in Harlem’s Colonel Young Park. Colonel Charles Young was denied a generalship during World War I because he was black. He rode his horse all the way to Washington DC in protest. The protest wasn’t successful, but sixty years later 20,000 people filled Colonel Young Park for the world’s first Black Championship Rodeo. And that number doesn’t even include the people peering down from the high-rise apartments. The Black World Championship Rodeo came back to Harlem every year for the next thirty years. And it’s gonna do for me what the movies did for John Wayne. It’s going to leave me a legend. We opened every rodeo with the national anthem, and a black cowboy would ride out carrying the American flag. It always made me emotional. Because with all the hurdles that we’ve faced, and still face, it’s amazing that we still love our country. But I do. Because it afforded me the opportunity to do what I did. And I delivered. I showed the whole world: there have always been black cowboys. And there always will be.”

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WSJ Magazine “Happy clothes to wear for Fall” PH: Cass Bird Stylist: Alex White

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Oh my... there are only 37 days until Shakeira graduates from Springfield College. Wow. Just wow. Time truly does fly.

21 Day Countdown

Well, there are only 21 days left before Shakeira is deposited on the campus of Springfield College.  Wow.  I don’t even know what to say about that. 

So with the remaining 22 days in the #31WriteNow challenge I will continue to explore my transition to emptynesthood (yes, I just made that up).

I think it will be interesting to wrap up on August 31st with my thoughts on my first day in my quiet little house.  We’ll see how it goes…

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Woman Tells Muhammad Ali That He’s Too Arrogant, His Response Is Absolutely Priceless…

He told her like it was to her face, Ali’s voice is truly missed in today’s world..

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr removing a burned cross from his front yard with his son at his side. Atlanta Ga 1960.

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Happy 21st Birthday, Shakeira! Love you, Boo! @_thewell_ @msebonym #happybirthday

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Happy 21st Birthday, Shakeira! #happybirthday

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“When I was 16, I was completely broke and needed to go get a job and I got the Yellow Pages out and I couldn’t find one thing that I wanted to do. So I decided I was going to push as hard as I could to be a musician and went at it.” —Prince

#Prince, a pioneering musician and creative, passed away today at the age of 57. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1SeSQnv

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PRINCE

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#flashbackfriday I've always loved purple. Made a purple outfit for Ebony's first pictures and then Shakeira wore it two years later for her first pictures. #RIPPrince

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When I ran out of space on my bedroom door, I hung his posters on my ceiling. #PrinceRIP

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Saw this on Broadway in Ft. Edward, NY this morning. Another beautiful morning, look at that sky! #newyork #mural #tobacco #furniture #oldbuildings #advertisement (at Fort Edward, New York)

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Josephine Baker in Siren of the Tropics

Via Black History Album…”The Way We Were” on Pinterest | Tumblr | Twitter  | Facebook.

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Damn this hit me hard , I needed this talk as a little girl. s/o to her mom for destroying the self hate in such a great way

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Michael joins Diana on stage and sings “Up side down” with her, and Diana sings “Rock with You” together with Michael

Dope

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What an amazing view on a beautiful fall day in Washington, DC! Sitting at the Lincoln Memorial looking across the reflecting pond at the Washington Monument. I think that's pretty awesome! #washingtondc #lincolnmemorial #washingtonmonument #momuments #travel #history #fall (at Lincoln Memorial)