The Cowboys of Color Rodeo took center stage at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on Monday afternoon, highlighting diversity.
"The history books didn't quite tell the story," Wendell Hearn said. "Cowboys that rode the West, it wouldn't matter what color your skin was. It was a matter of, it was a tough job, and who wanted to do the job, and who could do the job."
Hern's dad, Cleo Hearn, started the Cowboys of Color Rodeo in 1971 to buck cowboy stereotypes.
"A lot of people always tell me you never see a colored cowboy," ranch saddle bronc rider Frank Branch said. "That's my free place. It clears my mind...and nothing but joy."
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Branch was one of more than 200 top rodeo athletes competing in the Cowboys of Color Rodeo at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on MLK Day.
"This isn't about what color you are. This is about us being together, working together, for one common goal," Hearn said. "That's what we all need; to kind of embrace that we all have to work together to get through where we're going today."
Branch said he hopes to inspire young rodeo fans.
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"It teaches you that you can overcome any challenge," Branch said. "A lot of kids look up to us...they think we're superstars and they want to be just like that when they grow up."
This is the 12th year the Cowboys of Color has been at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
