Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo Returns to Fort Worth

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo returned to Fort Worth this weekend with more than 200 competitors.

The rodeo association was created as an all-Black touring rodeo 39 years ago by Lu Vason, the late husband of the association’s current president and owner Valeria Howard Cunningham. The idea was sparked by a visit to a rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

“While he was there, he noticed there were no Black cowboys or black cowgirls. It just piqued his interest,” Howard Cunningham said Saturday. “He came back and did a lot of studying and found out there were thousands of Black cowboys and cowgirls, but they didn’t get the opportunity to compete in rodeo.”

Saturday’s shows at the Cowtown Colosseum by the Fort Worth Stockyards kicked off the 2023 Texas Connection Series. Contestants ranged from as young as 3 years old to those on the senior levels.

Macie Davis, 9, traveled from Louisiana to compete Saturday. Davis has been involved with the sport of rodeo since she was about 3 years old.

“I just want to have fun and ride my horse here,” Davis said. “I enjoy my horse, Star. She’s really fun. She’s nice, sometimes. I just hope I don’t knock any barrels down. Promising.”

The shows Saturday are expected to be nearly sold out, according to Howard Cunningham. Some spectators are visiting Fort Worth to experience rodeo for the first time.

Janice Couey and her husband Donnie are visiting from Mobile, Alabama. Couey said her children have been to rodeo shows before, and she became particularly interested in the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo after reading the history behind the organization.

Couey said her husband was most excited to watch bull-riding.

“That’s why we sat on this end, because this is the bull shoot so, that’s what he wants to see the most,” she said. “I want to see the roping and the catching of the cows.”

Janya Taylor of Killeen is visiting with her parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews.

“I’m excited to see horses. I love horses and on Tik Tok, I see a lot of people roping the cattle. I’m just excited to see the environment, like Black cowboys,” Taylor said. “I would like my nephews to take away from this experience to see people of their color, to know there’s people out there that are doing different things other than rapping and on social media. That’s a big thing in our generation today.”

Howard Cunningham said she hopes the young cowboys and cowgirls competing Saturday will grow up being involved with the sport.

“It is important to us that we keep the legacy going and we tell the stories and we bring our children up to understand and to participate in the rodeo,” she said.

After Saturday’s shows, the next shows in the series will be in May, June, and August.