Black Riders and Their Horses Since “Black Lives Matter”: East Coast Addition

Since the summer of 2020, academic discourse surrounding Black cowboys and -girls has focused on riders and their use of horses as political symbols during the Black Lives Matter movement. However, these accounts are based primarily on journalistic reporting. This article seeks to intervene with a focus on critical ethnography and the ways in which it uncovers more complex dynamics between the African American community of urban horsemen and -women and their equines. By incorporating interviews from Black equestrians in Pennsylvania (specifically, Philadelphia), New York, and Texas, the horse’s image as a protest symbol is expanded to include a wider spectrum of meaning. This study showcases the need for further research to differentiate the unique perspectives often overlooked within the broader Black cowboy culture.