By: Natiece Ford Images of John Wayne often come to mind when thinking of cow-boys. Augusto Macedo and a group of friends have set out to change the imagery and tell the real story of the original cowboy, the black cowboy. Set to ride from Rosenburg, TX on September 21st and end at the National Western Multicultural Museum in Fort Worth, TX on September 26th along the original Chisholm Trail, stopping in major cities along the way to tell the rich history of the trail and the black cow-boys imprint on the West. Augusto spoke with AFRAM News about the mission of the historical tours that he and his group take around the country. The “Bike and Learn” tours started in 2016 with the 51st anniversary of the “Selma Marches” and have gone on to bike through other significant places in the country. The Chisholm Trail is a significant piece of black history and Augustos’ aim is to change the mythological image that cowboys are white men into the reality that being a cowboy is yet another piece of Black history. A big part of being a cowboy starts with the very horse you ride, with many not knowing that horses are not indigenous to the Americas but to Africa. Brought over through the Iberian Peninsula and then to Spain and then to South Carolina where horses were used to graze the marsh lands used to grow rice which were more profitable than cotton early in the slave trade because the rice could be used to feed those among the slave ships without it running the risk of spoiling like yams. Th e Black cowboys and those who worked the land made their way from the Carolinas to Texas by 1850.

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