Ivan McClellan

And she sang it with so much sincerity and so much energy that I heard it for the first time.

She said, sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us.

Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.

And that to me was what this rodeo was about.

What we have been forced to do in slavery, work the land, work with animals, we can now do in a celebratory mood for our own profit and our own entertainment.

I photographed that rodeo with absolute joy.

And I got home, and I looked at the photos, and I was just blown back by all of the vibrance and all of the energy and the fashion.

It was like I had gone to Oz, clicked my heels back to gray, homogenous Portland, but I had proof that I had been there.

My favorite photo is of this rodeo queen.

Her name is Jasmine Marie.

And I asked her to take her photo, and she stands there and throws her hair off of her shoulders.

And she's standing there with her chin up and her hair blowing back and her crown is glistening in the stadium lights.

And she looks like actual royalty.

I love all of these photos.

Whenever I'm feeling separated from the culture, I just open them up and look through them.

And I'm immediately taken back to Okmulgee.

And I go back every year.

I've taken my family with me.

I've been to dozens of black rodeos around the country.

My work has been featured in museums.