They’re cowboys in hoodies on horseback. In KC, they’re helping change lives
At first glance, these are not your typical cowboys. Not at a second or third glance either, for that matter.
Sitting atop their horses are Black men wearing hoodies and ball caps covering braids and locs paired with bootcut jeans, cowboy boots and jangling spurs.
They trot down Prospect Avenue on Kansas City’s East Side to the staccato reverb beats of their trap music soundtrack.
They are the Copper Boyz, riding on their mission to meet modern community needs with an understanding of Kansas City’s wild west history.
Returning to KC’s Cowtown roots
“Kansas City has always been a cowtown,” Your’Majesty El Bey said.
He’s the leader of the Copper Boyz. The nonprofit group leans into the area’s cowboy history and provides hands-on experiences for Kansas Citians, especially in the Black community, in horsemanship, agriculture and community engagement.
El Bey and his younger brother, Simeon Brooks, chose the name, Copper Boyz, as a reference to the skin color of the Black Indigenous people who were present and thriving when Europeans first arrived in America.
“And other than that, we used to scrap copper and stuff like that,” he added with a laugh.
Kansas City’s first settlers began to arrive in the early 1800s. They built cabins along the banks of the Missouri River and established the city officially in 1838. Horses and livestock were a common and necessary part of life.
In many regards, Kansas City was part of the Wild West. Saloon shootouts and U.S. Marshals chasing outlaws across the prairie were commonplace. The Civil War brought more violence to Kansas City’s streets before emancipation and America’s Reconstruction began.
The city has never quite shaken its dangerous reputation. This year, Kansas City was ranked No. 8 on U.S. and World Report’s list of the most dangerous cities in America. Homicides and nonfatal shootings in recent years have been at record highs. City leaders continue to seek meaningful solutions to the complex issue.
The Copper Boyz know all too well about the ills that plague the city.
During interviews for this story at the Copper Boyz ranch in South Kansas City, we repeatedly heard gunshots ring out. People at a nearby house were celebrating a Kansas City Chiefs victory. Not a Super Bowl, just a late season win, by firing several shots into the air.
“This is Kansas City,” says El Bey, in a tone that had a sense of resignation in it.
Encouraging positive change
The Copper Boyz frequently ride in parts of the city that are considered hot spots for violence, most often on the East Side and in South Kansas City.
They frequently participate in community events, especially during the summer months when the crime rate jumps, and help the Kansas City Police Department’s Community Engagement Division with canvassing neighborhoods.
Earlier this year, we joined the Copper Boyz for a walk with KCPD officers in Holmes Garden in South KC the morning after a homicide. Police needed to gather information from neighbors who knew the victim and take statements from any witnesses.
As the men and their horses rode through the neighborhood, residents stepped outside to see them gallop down their city street.
“The people know us from just seeing us out, so when they see us with the police, they be like, ‘OK, the police have to be OK,’” said Copper Boyz member Simeon Brooks, also known as CB Otto.
El Bey elaborated: “The police even say, ‘We never had the people come outside, sit and engage with us, until y’all brought the horses out with y’all.”
Both the Copper Boyz and KCPD acknowledge that the relationship between residents and police is often strained, but the horses’ presence have a way of bringing a sense of calm to the tense situations.
“They are an impressive group of men that work to encourage positive change towards the trend of youth violence in the city,” Maj. Kari Thompson said. “These men don’t want our youth to make poor choices that could affect their safety and their futures.”
Reclaiming their city
The Copper Boyz want to change the way people see and interact with public spaces in Kansas City.
Take Swope Park, known as the “crown jewel” of the city’s park system. The more-than-1,800-acre park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It is a popular place for picnics, grilling, and community events like car shows and home of the annual Ethnic Enrichment Festival.
But over the years, it has also gained a reputation as a dangerous part of the city.
“People used to be scared of Swope Park, but we always viewed it as a place to go for a ride,” Brooks said.
When the Copper Boyz are out in the park, they are quick to offer free rides to kids. They answer questions about the horses and share their experiences with cowboy culture. When they are in the community, Brooks said, people aren’t shooting or fighting.
“It’s always been a vibe,” he said.
Their experience and what they are bringing to Kansas City is a less formalized version of horse therapy, an evidence-based form of therapy that is used to help people cope with mental and physical illnesses.
Spending time with the horses and building a connection with them can help participants to break down barriers they face and find a sense of peace that they can channel into other parts of their lives.
The members of the Copper Boyz are young men, some who have lived the street life. But they’ve found themselves at the ranch. They are enjoying the pace of cowboy life: caring for animals, enjoying fellowship, and seeing how people smile when they meet their horses.
They said that working on the ranch and bringing their experience out into the streets can show Kansas Citians a different way of life than what they are used to seeing in their daily lives.
“Looking at Black people in Kansas City, it ain’t too many of us out here doing something like this,” El Bey said. “We want to let people know that this is an option for them.”
This story was originally published August 10, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
