The Jenny Come Lately

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April 1955: Gloria Vanderbilt and Truman Capote are toasting Pearl Bailey at the Blue Angel on the occasion of Miss Bailey's twentieth anniversary in show business.

It's not about protecting us, it's about being honest with us. With me.

CRIMINAL MINDS: EVOLUTION “Message in a Bottle” (2024)

SWEET CHARITY 1969 | dir. Bob Fosse

unpopular opinion but i like it when tv shows have women in them

#when alex danvers’ sneaky background acting is better than the actual scene

That’s dope

A History Of Black Cowboys And The Myth That The West Was White

Brad Trent, “Ellis ‘Mountain Man’ Harris from ‘The Federation of Black Cowboys’” series for The Village Voice, 2016

A quick internet search of “American cowboy” yields a predictable crop of images. Husky men with weathered expressions can be seen galloping on horseback. They’re often dressed in denim or plaid, with a bandana tied ‘round their neck and a cowboy hat perched atop their head. Lassos are likely being swung overhead. And yes, they’re all white.

Contrary to what the homogenous imagery depicted by Hollywood and history books would lead you to believe, cowboys of color have had a substantial presence on the Western frontier since the 1500s. In fact, the word “cowboy” is believed by some to have emerged as a derogatory term used to describe Black cowhands.

An ongoing photography exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem celebrates the legacy of the “Black Cowboy” while chronicling the unlikely places around the country where cowboy culture thrives today. Through their photographs, artists like Brad Trent, Deanna Lawson and Ron Tarver work to retire the persistent myth that equates cowboys with whiteness.

Deana Lawson, “Cowboys,” 2014, inkjet print mounted on Sintra, courtesy the artist and Rhona Hoffman Gallery

In the 1870s and ’80s, the Village Voice reports, approximately 25 percent of the 35,000 cowboys on the Western Frontier were black. And yet the majority of their legacy has been whitewashed and written over.

One notable example of this erasure manifests in the story of Bass Reeves, a slave in Arkansas in the 19th century who later became a deputy U.S. marshal, known for his ace detective skills and bombastic style. (He often disguised himself in costume to fool felons and passed out silver dollars as a calling card.) Some have speculated that Reeves was the inspiration for the fictional Lone Ranger character.

Most people remain unaware of the black cowboy’s storied, and fundamentally patriotic, past. “When I moved to the East Coast, I was amazed that people had never heard of or didn’t know there were black cowboys,” photographer Ron Tarver said in an interview with The Duncan Banner. “It was a story I wanted to tell for a long time.”

Ron Tarver. “Legends,” 1993

In 2013 Tarver set out to document black cowboy culture, in part as a tribute to his grandfather, a cowboy in Oklahoma in the 1940s. “He worked on a ranch and drove cattle from near Braggs to Catoosa.” Another artist, Brad Trent, shot striking black-and-white portraits of members of the Federation of Black Cowboys in Queens, New York, an organization devoted to telling the true story of black cowboys’ heritage while providing educational opportunities for local youth to learn from the values and traditions of cowboy life.

Kesha Morse, the FBC president, described their mission as using “the uniqueness of horses as a way to reach inner-city children and expose them to more than what they are exposed to in their communities.”

Trent’s images capture how much has changed for black cowboys, who now dwell not only on the Western Front but on the city streets of New York and in rodeos held in state prisons. Yet certain values of cowboy culture remain intact. For Morse, it’s the importance of patience, kindness and tolerance.

Ron Tarver, “The Basketball Game,” 1993 

Brad Trent, “Arthur ‘J.R.’ Fulmore, from ‘The Federation of Black Cowboys’” series for The Village Voice, 2016

Ron Tarver, “A Ride by North Philly Rows,” 1993 

Brad Trent, “‘Mama’ Kesha Morse from ‘The Federation of Black Cowboys’” series for The Village Voice, 2016

Ron Tarver, “Concrete Canyon,” Harlem, 1993

So much more needs to be said on this topic.

KATY O'BRIAN as DANI in TWISTERS (2024) dir. Lee Isaac Chung

1.03 | 11.02

WLW GIF MEME: ↳ [6/7] wlwoc ► nova bordelon (queen sugar)

Proof that we are on the worst timeline because this should exist.

Angela Bassett ig

The Supremes –  Diana Ross - Florence Ballard - Mary Wilson

The Supremes were an American female singing group and the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. America’s most successful vocal group with 12 number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100.  At their peak in the mid-1960s, the Supremes rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and it is said that their success made it possible for future R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. 

Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts become the first same sex couple to grace the cover of Essence magazine.