I stood there frozen, both boots in the dirt, when I saw Kourtnee Solomon, a Black woman, riding her shiny Black horse inside the Veterans Memorial Coliseum arena in Portland. She had reins to steer the horse in her left hand and the Pan African flag in the right to kick off the start of the 8 Seconds Rodeo officially. As Solomon rode around the area, the woman in the middle, Mother Lorraine Wilder, played the piano and sang the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
This moment is my first rodeo. Before this, the closest I’ve come to cowboy life was falling off a horse days prior on a ranch in Alberta, Canada, and, of course, Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter.” I wouldn’t be here without the founder, Ivan McClellan, and one of his co-organizers, Charles Sudduth. Both men convinced me to travel to the first and only Black rodeo in the Pacific Northwest.
@mittimegantv Have you ever been to a #blackrodeo ? Come with me to #eightsecondsrodeo in #portlandoregon . It’s the first and only Black rodeo in the Pacific Northwest. Organizers are heading to Philadelphia for the first time this year in October. #8secondsrodeo#portlandoregon#blackownedbusiness#blackownedportland#thingstodoportland#cowboyculture#blacktravelfeed♬ original sound – Mitti…