By TNCPNEWS
INGHAM COUNTY, MI – The Michigan Heritage Rodeo is taking place on September 19 and September 20, 2025, at the Michigan State University Livestock Pavilion in Lansing, Michigan. This highly anticipated event will celebrate rich rodeo traditions of the Black community offering a fun, educational, cultural, and family-friendly experience.
Latting Rodeo Productions is producing the rodeo. It was started 61 years ago by Thell Latting, now recognized as “Chicago’s first Black cowboy.” He was a multi-event competitor who founded the company to provide opportunities for Black athletes who were previously excluded from competing in white rodeos. It is located in St Anne, IL, and operated by his son, Mike Latting. It is the only Black-owned “turnkey” rodeo production company; he owns all the livestock, fencing, and chutes, and contracts directly with rodeo clowns, announcers, pickup men and women, and judges to present a complete, professional rodeo. Three generations of the Latting family are renowned horse riders who have participated in various aspects of rodeo competition, entertainment, and production.
For a long time, Western American literature and cinema largely excluded the faces and stories of Black cowboys and cowgirls. These men and women included some of the best wranglers, ropers, and outstanding horsefolk who rode and established the trails. They drove cattle, conquered grasslands, and the mountainous terrain.
According to an article in Smithsonian Magazine, one in four cowboys was Black. For the most part, they were excluded from history books, but their presence helped shape America.
In American history, white cattle workers were called cowhands, while the Black male workers were labeled cowboys. The term cow was combined with the derogatory “boy” a word that was used to belittle and demean Black men who persevered due to their skillset and strength. Black cowboys became especially prevalent after the Civil War (1865), though their presence dates back earlier.
Black cowboys were indispensable in the 1800’s taking on back-breaking work taming wild horses, herding cattle long distances, and navigating strange and uncharted territory. Before the Civil War, enslaved Africans were often forced to work with livestock, tending cattle and horses. Black workers honed their expertise in herding and breaking horses. They left a lasting imprint on the cattle industry and created an imprint on America’s western culture.
Janet Washington, co-chair of the Michigan Heritage Rodeo, said, “Black cowboys have always been present. Today, Black rodeos continue. They showcase the legacy of resilience, mastery, and pride. We wanted to showcase that their stories are rooted in shaping the nation’s past. We are reclaiming our history, honoring our ancestors, and celebrating a heritage that can never be erased.”
Black women were also an integral part of settling the American West and developing the towns across the plains. Their roles included maintaining boarding rooms, working in emerging establishments like saloons, stores, hotels, and laundries.
Women even worked as stagecoach drivers. One of the most notable was Mary Fields, commonly known as Stagecoach Mary, who was a mail carrier and stagecoach driver.
Eventually, cowboys like Bill Pickett, Nate Love, and Sheriff Bass Reid emerged as significant figures in the West. These figures were the forerunners of the cowboys and cowgirls that we see in today’s rodeo circuits.
Janet said, “The Michigan Heritage Rodeo is a family focused event that provides a unique opportunity to share the very rich and often untold history, and continuing legacy, of cowgirls and cowboys of color. The MHR is a tribute to their role in creating America’s western culture and will celebrate culture, community and cowboy roots right here in Michigan. It is a celebration of culture, courage and community!”
The Michigan Heritage Rodeo will be a total experience that features a full professional rodeo performance with more than 80 contestants from across the country. There will be something for everyone! You can expect to see bull riding, ladies barrel racing, bucking horses, men and women in 3-person relay team racing with horses running at race track speed, and more.
The rodeo also incorporates talented local performers into the festive Grand Opening festivities, including DeVonte Heard, internationally acclaimed gospel vocalist, CEO of Transcendence Performing Arts Center and member of the Lansing School District Board; Dr. Derrick Fox, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Creative Endeavors & Professor of Choral Music at Michigan State University; and Mr. Alfred Singleton III, world renown and award winning gospel artist, writer and producer and founder of the legendary gospel group, The Singletons. Friday evening will also include a performance by the Best Academy of Dance, a troupe founded by Shameka Best, that has performed throughout the state, including at Detroit Pistons games.
Desmond Ferguson, Founder and CEO of Moneyball Sportswear, will serve as Grand Marshall for this Inaugural Michigan Heritage Rodeo.
Additionally, there will be historical displays and resource information to assist students and others interested in exploring related academic and career opportunities. Lansing resident William Jerome Peebles is presenting a dynamic western display with authentic artifacts and memorabilia replicating a portion of a historic Black cowboy and military encampment. William is a decorated Army veteran and a retired State of Michigan employee. He was an avid trail rider and supporter of youth equestrian programs, and continues to be a historian, sharing the story of Black western trailblazers and American patriots.
There will also be a Buffalo Soldiers art exhibit presented by Atty. Douglas Lewis of Ann Arbor. MI. He retired as Director of Student Legal Services at the University of Michigan and was a member of the Washtenaw County Buffalo Soldiers. For many years, he was an avid trail rider and 4-H leader. He is currently the head of the African American West Project and continues to speak on Western history to youth and adult audiences across the country.
The rodeo is a historic celebration of culture, community, and cowboy roots right in Michigan. For more information, visit https://michiganheritagerodeo.com.
