Portland Courant

In June, Portland got decked out in denim to welcome its first-ever Black rodeo, 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo! 

Photographer Ivan McClellan, one of the organizers of the rodeo, spent years documenting the lives of Black cowboys and rodeo athletes though the Eight Seconds art project. The project’s name is a reference to the length of time a bull rider must stay on the animal in order to score points. McClellan’s work with be featured at the Portland Art Museum in fall 2023.

Inspired by other Black rodeos he’s documented, McClellan decided to bring the rodeo to Portland. Gresham City Councilor Vince Jones-Dixon suggested lining up the rodeo with Juneteenth, the holiday honoring when enslaved people were finally freed in Texas.

“Just seeing Blackness merge with cowboy culture — which I’ve loved my whole life — was so inspiring for me,” McClellan said in a PDX Monthly article. “The opportunity to bring that to the community here and open a lot of other eyes is important for me as a storyteller and an artist.”

The competition included classic rodeo events like bareback horse riding, breakaway roping, bull riding, and barrel racing, while also bringing in elements of Portland’s Black community. The event featured Ghanaian food from Black Star Grill and barbecue from Felton and Mary’s, and DJ O.G.ONE — the official DJ of the Portland Trail Blazers — kept the crowd dancing.

 “All the athletes this year are coming in from out of town,” McClellan said in an AFAR article, “and our vision is that in 5 to 10 years, we’ll have some local-grown athletes who grew up riding up here, who learned to rodeo with the 8 Seconds Rodeo.” 8 Seconds will award scholarships for a year of horseback riding lessons to five kids who attended the event.

Civic Life is proud to have sponsored this amazing community-building event! Our grant opportunities aim to strengthen community, build inclusion, and support engagement with City government. Find more information about how to apply for a grant online. 

Read more about the 8 Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo:

• Black Rodeo Comes to Town, Saundra Sorenson, The Skanner
• Sixteen-Year-Old Black Cowgirl London Gladney Is Coming to Portland—and Fast, Jake Moore, Willamette Week
• Portland’s first Black rodeo celebrates culture and community, Nick Gibson and Jaden Coleman, The Oregonian
• These Cowboys Build a New Juneteenth Tradition at a Rodeo in Portland, Brent Lewis and Eduardo Medina, The New York Times
• Rodeo brings Black cowboy culture to Portland over Juneteenth weekend, Prakruti Bhatt and Stephani Gordon, OPB

Original source can be found here