Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo Honors Colored Cowboys at Annual Event

Stock Show and Rodeo in Fort Worth celebrated the legacy Martin Luther King Jr. with greetings to cowboys of all walks of life. More than 200 Hispanic, African American and Native American cowboys and cowboys participated in the annual Cowboys of Color event on Monday afternoon.

The event began with a performance by the Escaramuza Tierra Azteca team. The Escaramoose are often referred to as Mexico’s female rodeo queens.

These are “the Mexican revolutionaries of 1910, other leaders who really played a major role in the Mexican Revolution,” said Dora Tovar, spokesperson for the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.

“When () an unknown group approached their camp, they rode in a circle and gathered all their children together. And the dust that they kicked up from their horses from moving around very quickly, this is a skirmish. “

The showcase continued with salutes to black cowboys and cowboys. The crowd applauded the performance of Fort Worth’s own Circle L5 club.

“The L5 circle is made up of black women and men, cowboys and cowgirls,” said Marcella Hickey. Hickey is a member of a historic group believed to be the city’s first all-black riding group. “We are the oldest black riding club in Texas. We have been working (here) since 1951.”

Hickey said Monday’s performance was even more special.

“We represent people of color, but we also represent people from all nations, nationalities, trying to embody unity,” Hickey said.

When the club first started, they were kept out of the spotlight.

“We had to go through a lot of trials to get where we are, starting with five people,” Hickey said. “They had to be escorted when the parades took place.”

Events such as Cowboys of Color serve as a powerful lesson in the history of the trials that minorities have faced, but also celebrate achievements.

“It’s kind of a multicultural performance,” Tovar said of the event. “That’s everything you needed to know about cowboys that you probably didn’t read in a history book. African Americans (and) people of color are very well represented in the rodeo industry.”

Hickey and the Circle L5 club seek to preserve the heritage of blacks and minority vaqueros through education.

“We would like to give them inspiration so they know that anything is possible,” Hickey said. “We can teach them to take care of themselves. We teach them to ride a horse. We (teach) them the basic needs before we even teach them how to ride. In this way, we let them know that it takes much more than just speeding up their riding to take care of the horse.”

The action-packed day continued with barrel racing, bull riding and tying, with Huntsville’s John Dauch leading the leaderboard with a time of 10.6 seconds.

The excitement continues on Tuesday with bull night featuring some of the best riders in the business.

Content Source

Dallas Press News – Latest News:
Dallas Local News || Fort Worth Local News | Texas State News || Crime and Safety News || National news || Business News || Health News

texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

Related Articles

Back to top button