The Studio Museum in Harlem delights in destroying stereotypes. The current exhibit called "Black Cowboys" did that for me.
I was astonished to learn that 25% of the cowboys in the West after the Civil War were black, part of the great majority of cowboys that came from the South after that war.
The photos were collected and arranged by Amanda Hunt, the curator of “Black Cowboy,” who calls it a “small-scale revisionist art history.” The exhibit highlights the ways in which black communities today are celebrating and reclaiming their frontier history, and includes shots of black riders engaging in many aspects of the equestrian arts.
I try to stop by this fine museum every two or three months. There is always something to learn, and 125th Street is constantly fascinating to me.