A lone rider emerged from darkness onto the dust-filled arena of The Liacouras Center, holding the red, black and green stripes of the Pan-African flag for the 8,000 on-lookers. The cowboy basked in the spotlight as the Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church serenaded the crowd with “Life Every Voice and Sing,” famously known as the Black National Anthem.
“We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, out of the gloomy past, till now we stand at last, where the white gleam of our bright star is cast,” the choir sang.
The 8 Seconds Rodeo, a black rodeo hosted by CEO Ivan McClellan, was held at The Liacouras Center Saturday night. 8 Seconds was born out of McClellan’s close relationship with late bull rider Ouncie Mitchell, whom he first met to photograph. After Mitchell’s passing in 2023, McClellan devoted himself to creating an environment for Black cowboys to compete at the highest level.
McClellan chose Philadelphia as the next location in the company’s three-year history due to the city’s large Black community and his recent move to the area. It was the company’s debut appearance on the east coast.
“I wanted to take that energy to Philly and do something enormous,” McClellan said. “Bring those cowboys into a market where people are going to start paying attention to them.”…