Go inside a bull’s pen at Black rodeo that entertained a sold out crowd in KC
The smell of leather, dirt, and livestock mingling together hung in the air inside the auditorium at Hale Arena in the Kansas City West Bottoms, where the metro’s first Black rodeo in several years, would soon get underway.
The sound of a heavy machine motor moaned from a tractor evening out the soil covering an oval enclosure, about the size of a football field. As it made its rounds, kicking up dust as it worked, Black cowboys walked the grounds, mentally preparing for the upcoming show. Workers checked the steel fences that would separate the crowd in the raised stands from participants in one of the world’s most dangerous sports.
The Black rodeo rolled into Kansas City last week, put on an entertaining show to a sold-out crowd, and a whole lot went into making it all happen within hours of its arrival. Organizers granted the Kansas City Star permission to hang around Saturday before the day’s opening and all the rodeo lovers and first-time observers poured through the doors.
An hour before the Kansas City Invitational Black Rodeo was to begin, organizers bustled through the venue, working quickly to ensure everything was in place, animal stables filled with livestock, vendors situated, and cowboys checked in and ready.
As attendees lined up outside the arena doors, inside, apart from the snorts, grunts and bellows of horses and cattle, it is conspicuously quiet.
Those involved in the day’s competition use the time to ready themselves in their own ways. Some walked the surrounding enclosure, some listened to music on headphones, others prayed. The world of rodeo is no joke: the cowboys who compete aren’t just risking a cash prize; they are risking their lives.
Walter Hull, director of the Northeastern Rodeo Association, said this “calm before the storm,” is typical. The mounting anticipation is one of his favorite parts of the experience. He has been working with the association for the past 12 years and made it his mission to bring Black rodeos to communities like Kansas City where they are rare.
Although coordinating a sport he is passionate about is a labor of love, he said, the process of getting everything together is a lot.
“You’ve got to find stock contractors and make sure things line up financially, decide how much you can put out (prize money) and then you have to get it to the cowboys,” Hull said.
Hull oversees every Black rodeo produced through his organization and travels the country to be onsite for each one. Though he works with a team who aid him in these efforts, his role remains high-paced. Hull moved from location to location within the venue, making sure everything is ready before the doors opened. While cowboys will be wrangling animals in the hours to come, Hull spends the hour before the show wrangling humans.
For Hull and the Northeastern Rodeo Association, this rodeo has been years in the making. Kansas City has long been a destination they’ve wanted to bring a Black rodeo to, but they repeatedly encountered roadblocks.
“Six years ago we tried to come to the Hale Arena,” he said, “but we couldn’t because of the American Royal.” Hull is confident that this year’s rodeo will serve as a kickoff point for what he hopes becomes an annual stop on the Black rodeo tour.
In the back area, which resides directly behind the main chute gates out of view from the audience where animals are brought into the main enclosure for each events. The backstage area held a multitude of livestock from riding and bucking horses to calves and bulls, all to be used in the show.
As Hull walks the metal pens he greets the many Black cowboys he has formed bonds with over the years.
Though the community of Black cowboys is smaller than that of their white counterparts, Hull says it’s growing. Two visiting riders mentally preparing for the show are Jimmy Jones of Edwards, Mississippi, and Au’Vion Horton from Hope, Arkansas. The two young Black, bull riders have known each other for years and have built a strong bond through the high-octane sport. Though they are competing against each other, they don’t see themselves as opponents, more like comrades fighting the same battle.
“I have always loved bull riding since I was a kid,” said Jones. “Somebody told me I couldn’t do it, so I said, ‘Okay, I’m going to do it,’ and the first bull I rode put me on my back.”
Waiting for the show to start is a tense time for many competitors, but Jones says it’s his favorite time. “It’s not just the adrenaline rush, it’s the lights, the cameras, seeing Black people like us enjoying the culture,” said the Mississippi native.
As the competitors settled in backstage, attendees poured through the entranceways into the venue. People of all ages, friends, family, and rodeo enthusiasts — hundreds — wearing a range of fashions, from traditional blue jeans, boots, and cowboy hats to stylish urban-country western mash-ups.
According to 19-year-old Amiah Harden, many women have been inspired by Beyoncé’s country-themed Cowboy Carter album.
“This is my first rodeo,” said Harden. “I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m excited to be here.” Donning a cowboy hat, white blouse, black leather skirt and boots, Harden said the must-have accessory for any cowgirl this year is her fan. The large fan has become popular thanks to the line-dancing craze sparked by 803Fresh’s “Boots on the Ground.” which on social media eatures women flashing fans as part of the dance.
Though Harden came for the music-inspired excitement, her grandfather, Drew Harden, 67, hopes to see more Black rodeos in the metro, creating space for family moments like the one he was having with his granddaughter.
“I’ve been around rodeos my whole life,” said the elder Harden. “There are so many rodeos in Oklahoma and I go back for them, but I really hope they can have more here in Kansas City so we can have more family events where we all come out and enjoy them.”
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As people flooded Hale Arena, hip-hop and R&B music, not country, roared from the DJ’s speakers. Vendors were hawking their wares including hats, shirts, bags, and, of course, the fans, “something you’ll only see at a Black rodeo,” said Assane Diop, originally from Senegal, now living in Arizona, and vending at rodeos for the past 12 years.
“But I don’t doubt you’ll start seeing them (fans) at mainstream rodeos in time.”
Diop says the cowboy lifestyle, working farmland, driving cattle and grit, naturally appealed to him.
“Being a cowboy is universal, you can have a little cowboy in you no matter where you’re from,” he said as he spoke to customers who surrounded his booth.
As the seats filled up the events started with steer wrestling, cowboys rope calves and flip them over, then hog-tie them for the best score. Daniel Bey, a Kansas City, Kansas native who practiced for months for the event, did not walk away with the prize, unfortunately, but he was still happy to be part of what he believes will be a memorable show.
“I think this really is the start of something big here in Kansas City. I think we put on a great show, and folks will be coming back.”
The crowd volume in the arena grew as competition intensified. Roping and wrestling cattle transitioned into riding wild horses, giving the audience their first taste of danger. Multiple riders were thrown from wild horses, with hooves often coming inches from striking the thrown rider..
DeMarcus Ford, another Kansas City, Kansas competitor, waited his turn in the bronc riding competition. Riders before him struggled to stay atop the bucking bronco the allotted eight seconds. Confident, Ford climbed over the steel barrier into the holding pen with the wild horse. The metal gate swung open, the horse busted out, bouncing and bucking in every direction. Ford managed to stay on the steed for just a few seconds, before he was flung off the horse and landed on his back in the dirt.
“I’m okay,” said Ford after climbing over the barrier. “It goes like that sometimes, just gotta do better next time.”
At intermission the DJ shouted out to visitors from various cities and organizations and when the hit track “Boots on the Ground” filled the arena women lined the aisles to dance in unison.
Mitchell Rice, 54, and white said he tries to attend as many rodeos as possible, regardless of who organizes them.
“I love rodeos no matter if it’s Black, white, or anything,” said Rice, who attended with his girlfriend Rachel Riley. “Those horses and bulls don’t care what color you are.”
Riley had never attended a Black rodeo but said, “it has been amazing, and everyone has been really nice. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it would be different, but it has that same big-family feel you’d get at any rodeo.”
After ladies’ barrel racing came the final and most dangerous events, bull riding.
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Horton, one of the visiting competitors from Hope, Arkansas, has competed in bull riding since the 10th grade.
“All I wanted to do was ride bulls, I eat, sleep, and drink it,” he said. “I thank God for it, because I was going down the wrong path.”
As Horton prepares for his ride, he, Jones, and another rider kneel together in a tight huddle in the backstage dirt, praying for protection and success. When it’s time, he and an assistant approach the bull pin, where “Mr. Nasty”, a massive, dark brown bovine paces restlessly, slamming his muscular body against the narrow pen.
A full-grown bull typically weighs between 1,000 and 4,000 pounds.
Horton and an assistant fasten a saddle and harness ropes across the bull’s broad belly. Horton donned a helmet and protective gear, then settled into place on the back of the bull. Without warning or notice the door opens and the bull bolted into the arena, throwing Horton around like a rag doll. The ride lasted only seconds before Horton was tossed to the dirt.. Horton doesn’t win this time but side every loss is a chance to get better and improve.
When the first Black rodeo Kansas City had seen in years ended organizers and competitors left saying people had a good time and they hope they’ll be back next year.
This story was originally published July 31, 2025 at 12:30 PM.
