No Church in the Wild

An intimate portrait of family, community, and life on the trail through the lens of America's oldest Black trail-riding community. Documented over two years, this project follows the Prairie View Trail Rider Association through 2023 and 2024, including week-long trail rides to the Annual Houston Rodeo.

During the two-year period, I attended over 20 rodeos centered in rural Black communities across the greater Houston and South Texas areas. From informal backyard rodeo competitions, where athletes competed for neighborhood bragging rights on who was the best calf roper, to organized rodeos across towns, to regional competitions where winners earned spots in bigger invitational competitions.

Black cowboys have largely been excluded from recognition for their contributions to the present-day cowboy culture, and conversations on the history of the American cowboys. Today, being a Black cowboy is an act of resistance to the ongoing erasure and exclusion from its history and contributions to the cowboy culture.