It’s a history deeply rooted in Rita Cooksey and her family.
Raised in Oklahoma City, Cooksey's specialty is barrel racing and comes from a family of team and calf ropers.
“I just love to ride. I'm not really a real competitor, even though I've been a champion many times, won several saddles and blankets and things,” Cooksey said. “Come up through the All Girls Rodeo Association.”
Cooksey took her place on stage in front of hundreds of people to be honored among the legends of Black rodeo. She was one of two women to receive the honor.
For Cooksey, the event is a full-circle moment. As a young girl, she remembers how her father used to saddle her horse. Now, she is retired in Boley, where she has family, and is the most tenured volunteer docent at the local museum.
“So the education component, combined with being a docent at the National Cowboy Museum, that just merges together,” Cooksey said. “It's a fantastic opportunity for me and to help others learn.”
People ingrained in the legacy of Black rodeo and current competitors and families were in the crowd. For decades, Black cowboys and cowgirls were not allowed to compete in white rodeos, and Danell Tipton, a key organizer of the event, said the gala’s purpose is to recognize the people who paved the way for others.
“We have a craft, and it ain’t told. It’s never been told,” Tipton said.
A professional bull rider from Spencer, Tipton has been involved in rodeos since he was little and eventually earned the title of World Champion Bull Rider. Last year, he said the gala was sold out, over-packed and beautiful. This year, the event was sold out again.
“This is a vision. This should have been done a long time ago,” Tipton said. “Our fallen cowboys should have seen this.”
Originally from southeastern Oklahoma, Cornell Fields grew up around ranching and farming and comes from a rodeoing family.
For about 30 years, Fields rodeoed and traveled across the world with different associations, such as the International Pro Rodeo Association and the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, and qualified multiple times. At the gala, he was honored for being a finalist.
“When I left Oklahoma City, there was a lot of them told me I would never make it in steer wrestling because of my size but looking back 35 years now, they were wrong,” Fields said. “Well, it feels good. But I didn't do it for the recognition. I did it because I love the sport, and to be recognized for something that you love doing is special.”
Fields has also been a mentor and continues the work today. His grandfather taught him what horses mean to cowboys and how to ride and care for them.
“And even to this day, I'm still in awes of the things that he taught me, and I try to pass it on as much as I possibly can,” Fields said.
Oklahoma is home to famous rodeos, including the Boley Rodeo, the oldest African American rodeo in the nation, and Oklmulgee Roy LeBlanc Invitational Rodeo, one of the largest and longest continually running African American rodeos in the country.
The Okmulgee Invitational rodeo won rodeo of the year at the gala. Competitors in events such as the Pony Express, bull riders and team ropers, and people in other roles, like rodeo judges and timers also received honors.
While on stage, Tipton said people from across the country recognize what has occurred in the south for years. Sponsors like Wrangler backed the awards gala, and Tipton said to keep up the momentum.
“They saw our vision, and we're going to get some money in these kids' pockets that want to do this,” Tipton said. “We got scholarships.”
