These cowboys build a new Juneteenth tradition at a Portland rodeo
Ivan McClellan, a photographer, was fascinated when he first encountered black cowboy culture years ago at a rodeo in Oklahoma.
He saw black people don cowboy hats and saddle horses, images that inspired him to do so fully document that community in his work.
This year, however, he wanted to go one step further. Mr. McClellan and Vince Jones-Dixon, a city councilman in Gresham, Oregon, wanted to organize a Juneteenth rodeo in Portland, one that would bring together the black cowboy and cowgirl communities in the Pacific Northwest.
On Saturday, they unveiled the inauguration Eight seconds Juneteenth Rodeo at the Portland Expo Center, where the Western lifestyle was showcased through barrel races, bull riding, and glittering heavy belt buckles.
“You see the cowboy, and it’s short for independence and perseverance and all that stuff about America,” said Mr. McClellan, who is black. “But then you combine it with black culture, and it just wobbles your brain and distorts things you thought were true.”
Mr. McClellan and other attendees noted on Saturday how black cowboys and cowgirls mixed their fashions with western staples: gold chains peeking out of plaid button-down shirts; women with acrylic nails adjusting their dusty jeans; cowboy hats flat across the front, bulging over the sides.
“It takes the things we know about black culture, and it takes the icon of the cowboy — John Wayne, Clint Eastwood — it takes that icon and distorts it,” said Mr. McClellan.
Jarron Owen, a bull rider from Centralia, Washington, who attended the rodeo, said such events are rare in the region.
“There’s such a small community of black people doing rodeos on the west coast,” Mr. Owen said. “Having a black rodeo in Portland is big.”
More than 2,000 people attended, Mr McClellan said. They stamped and cheered as bull riders jostled and swung, struggling to stay on the animal.
Mr. McClellan said they planned to make the rodeo a Juneteenth tradition.
“The western world was stark white when we came in,” he said. “We started throwing some black people into that world — and making some change.”