Black Cowboy Course

[Photo: Courtesy of The Black Cowboy Museum] The University of Houston has launched a new course for the Spring 2025 semester. Dr. Alicia Odewale, an archaeology professor has decided to bring new life to Black History, focusing on those in the Western part of the country; the course is called “Before Cowboy Carter: Black Towns, Black Freedom.” The course is using Cowboy Carter is Beyonce’s 2024 country album as a way to connect history to modern culture, the course will talk about Black cowboys, freedmen, and Black towns that were created after slavery. & Odewale is a history expert who studies African American stories that most people do not know about. She grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma and earned a PhD in Anthropology and is a specialist in African Diaspora archeology. She is the creator of the #TulsaSyllabus which helps people learn about Black history in an easy and powerful way.  & Black cowboys made up 25% of all cowboys in the American West. People like Nat Love, Bass Reeves, Mary Fields and Bill Pickett played an important role in shaping the West, but their names are often left out of popular stories about cowboys. Many Black cowboys worked as...