![]() And so, to play off of the “Black Lives Matter” saying, we use “Black Equestrians Matter” or “Black Cowboys Matter,” as a way to feed into the current energy and bring Blackness into the forefront of a long-ignored part of American culture. We show Black and brown faces doing what they’ve done for centuries and update using art, music, and our neighborhood style to make it a thing that matters for others around the world. It is what it is, we can’t go back and rewind that, but our thing is to show how inaccurate that was and represent what this space and culture is in its entirety. Part of that is the Hollywood machine but the other is cultural appropriation in a way that history has long ignored. Even with country music, you’d consider the “cowboys” there as white guys in Stetson hats with guitars. All the very popular Western films from years ago have been exclusively white men in starring roles. Whether through our platform or in person, we’ve made the Black cowboy relatable and accessible to our community while having an appeal that speaks to audiences all over the world.įor a long time, the quintessential American cowboy has been considered John Wayne or Clint Eastwood. Randy Savvy: We’d like to think that we had a pretty strong hand in bringing the Black cowboy back into popular culture over the last few years. What has this resurgence of cowboys and riding meant to you all with films like Concrete Cowboys and The Harder They Fall impacting in a major way? ![]() We’re in our fourth year as being Compton Cowboys and it’s been a pretty exciting ride.īET.com: It has been a personal goal to meet you and the Compton Cowboys since the team has been at the forefront of keeping that equine life embedded in Black culture. With that, we’re able to keep our ranch open, take care of our non-profit operation, provide unique programming for the kids and have them invested in nature. That’s where we are at now, doing all of this cool stuff in the community, and using our influence to help sustain our ranch efforts. We started through social media, placing Compton Cowboys on Instagram, and showed us as a crew and our lifestyle. Now that we are the adults in the community, we have figured out a way to pay it forward after my auntie retired after 30 years of service to the community. Compton Cowboys started with eight of us, seven guys and one girl, and we met as kids and rode horses together. Randy Savvy: We were a crew of young kids who came up through my auntie’s program and had a bunch of moms, friends, and family who supported us. And she did that! But Compton in the late ‘80s was the wild, wild West in itself, as you had drugs, crime, gangs - you name it! She chose to stay through it all to make a difference because that’s just how our family rolls.īET.com: So, how did you all grow from that to become the Compton Cowboys? ![]() It meant that she could have horses and a farm, but still live in the city and all that. She stumbled across Richland Farms through her work as a real estate agent, and it was a no-brainer for her to move there. She was a cowgirl and grew up always wanting to be involved with horses, and be a real-life rancher and farmer, even though she lived in the city. We call ourselves alumni of the Compton Junior Posse, which was an organization started by my auntie in 1988. Randy Savvy: I am proud to share our story with BET.com and let folks know just how much the Compton Cowboys are a staple in our community. ![]() BET.com: For those who are not quite familiar with the Compton Cowboys and yourself, may you share how it all came together and what’s new with you all currently? ![]()
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