Behind the Book BY K E I T H RYA N CA RT W R IG H T , author of Black Cowboys of Rodeo: Unsung Heroes from Harlem to Hollywood and the American West
Black Cowboys of Rodeo: Unsung Heroes from Harlem to Hollywood and the American West, my new book from unp, reveals how, much like Jackie Robinson and other Black athletes throughout the twentieth century, Black cowboys stood up in the face of adversity, enduring hardships and collectively breaking through many racial barriers and glass ceilings in pursuit of their sport. Through more than one hundred years’ worth of cowboy stories set against the backdrop of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the civil rights movement, and, eventually, the integration of a racially divided country, the narratives I was fortunate enough to capture here give a vibrant, unvarnished, and comprehensive look at a seldom-documented segment of the African American experience. In pursuit of these hidden stories, I conducted more than eight hundred hours of interviews over three years with more than 130 subjects, including African American scholars, civil
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