Glad to bring us home today with Black Western culture.

It resonates with me as a girl who grew up in Sacramento, CA, the final stop for many on the journey out west including the Donner Party and Levi Strauss. Our history as Black folks in Western states has been so suppressed and erased but Black folks have had such a distinct impact on the American West.

There is such a dignity and elegance to the photos I’ve curated for y’all today. I loved doing this research on Black cowboys! I wish I had more time and more space. In this edit alone I’m touching on cowboy culture that spanned from Texas to Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Mississippi, and much more. This history has been co-opted and suppressed but we are in a renaissance, a period of reclamation. It’s also beautiful to see how deep and multicultural these roots are. Black Western culture is so infused with Mexican and Native American culture as well.

I’m starting in the archives with historical photos of Black cowboys, who learned the cowboy way of life from Mexican vaqueros - the first cowboys. I then feature the contemporary work of Justin Hardiman, @KailSovl on Twitter. He is my favorite contemporary photographer of Black life. I hope one day his name is mentioned alongside greats like Gordon Parks. Incredibly cold with a camera but warm in his approach. He has produced some of the most magnificent portraits of Black Southern life I’ve ever seen. I’ve had the privilege of following him online for several years and his work stops me mid-scroll every time. It has such a distinct “Oh that’s Justin!” quality to it. It is distinct, singular, and yet familiar and communal. I love his eye, I love his work, and I know you will too.

Have a great weekend!