'And they call the thing rodeo’

Garth Brooks song “Rodeo” may capture the essence, while musing about the “broncs and the blood,” but two local men lived the life and that thing they call rodeo. 

On Feb. 1, the Second National Black Cowboy Awards Gala was held in Oklahoma City to honor the achievements of Black cowboys and cowgirls. The gala honored bullfighters, rodeo moms, rodeo announcers, secretaries and Living Legends. Two of these men honored as Living Legends were Larry Finnels and Frank Joe Landry.  

Cattle ranching was a necessary part of American infrastructure after the Civil War. This created the cowboy lifestyle that would stem generations and provide jobs for Black men.  

However, this did not come without discrimination and having to adapt to the changing economy. Black cowboys paved the way and are still paving the way for future cowboys and cowgirls every day. 

Larry Finnels, 78, is originally from Beaumont, but has lived in Anahuac for 30 years and lives there with his wife JoAnn Rivon. 

Finnels started riding in his 20s after four years of Naval service during the Vietnam War. He rode bareback horses and bulls in rodeos from 1972 to the 1980s. He also attended the first rodeo held in Watts, California. 

Riding was in his family since his father, Sidney Finnels, was the first black man to ride in Madison Square Garden in the 1950s. This has been passed down generations to his grandson and nephew. 

After coming home from the war, Finnels began to ride bulls. He rode Jeckels, the Schlitz Malt Liquor Bull in Big Bear, California, one of the toughest bulls he ever faced. 

“It’s a rush that you can’t describe, and then when you get up, you wonder what the hell am I doing,” said Finnels. 

Finnels also had the opportunity to work with the Anheuser-Busch and the Budweiser Clydesdales. 

Frank “Joe” Landry, 80, is from Old River-Winfree, where he has served as mayor for 32 years. He is also the pastor of River Rock Missionary Baptist Church. 

Raised on a ranch near Tri-City Beach and Cedar Bayou, Landry learned from a young age how to be a cowboy, along with his brothers and sisters. 

That ranch is where Landry was drawn to riding and where he learned about bucking. 

“We’d run some of those calves through that jam shoot and put us a rope on ‘em and swing open that gate,” Landry said. “We buck ‘em out like we bucking out in the rodeo. That’s actually where we got started, in the jam shoot on that ranch.” 

At age 19, he began to ride bareback horses right after graduating from Baytown’s George Washington Carver High School in 1964. He then went into the military in 1965, where he went to the Vietnam War from 1966-1967. He later attended college and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology. 

Nowadays, you will find Landry living on his own ranch, aptly named Joe Landry Ranch, with his wife Mae Helen, five horses and a goat.  

More than 1,000 people attended the event that was set to honor various categories of people in the rodeo. They were dressed to impress and celebrate the achievements of cowboys and cowgirls from all over the country. 

This event was inspired by three men Danell Tipton, James Ridley and Marcous Friday. They were going to create a calendar to honor Black cowboys and cowgirls and eventually decided a gala would be just what they needed. 

“When I tell you the dress code was amazing, it was like the Grammys,” Tipton said. 

Tipton, a World Championship bull rider, was born in Spencer, Oklahoma. He grew up riding bulls, something he picked up from his mom’s side of the family. 

He joined the International Pro Rodeo Association (IRCA) in 1993, where he won a world title in 1995, and another in 1996. He left the IRCA in 1998 and later joined the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association (PRCA). 

Tipton qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo in 1998 and won The All-Around Rookie of the Year Award in bull riding and wrestling. 

“I have so many rodeos that I put on and that I’m a part of,” Tipton said. “I love rodeo. I sleep it, I eat it, I dream it and I walk it every day, and that’s my life.” 

The location of the event was specifically chosen because the National Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum is in Oklahoma City and Tipton felt this was the best place for it. 

“We did not recognize there was going to be to be that many people,” Tipton said. “So, when tickets went on sale in October, we were selling out.” 

Tipton and Landry said how the atmosphere and awareness of being a Black cowboy have changed over the years because of community. Each serves their towns on councils and within the area, whether as a town councilman or as a grand chaplain. They gave advice they both learned from riding that they felt applied to life. 

“Love, family and learning to say, ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘no ma’am,’” Landry said.