Black cowgirl
Me in White Sands National Park, NM.
Tupac by David LaChappelle
What is it?
The original Black Cowgirl (White America) was a travelogue of my experiences on a road trip throughout the West, but in writing that, I realized that many of my reactions to those experiences had been informed by my exposure to the outdoors as a child.
Anyway, a lot of folks, in a lot of places read it, so I decided to take a good faith hand at it and make it a full essay collection.
What's it mean?
Ah, I love this question. More than my literally being a cowgirl, the title derives its significance from being inherently contradictory. I realized this when I first saw the black cowboy exhibit. The reason why people found it conceptually so remarkable made me wonder--what exactly was so surprising? The black men on the horse or (eventually) the horses in the projects? Changing cowboy to cowgirl emphasized this rhetoric. What other things have we allowed society to rhetorically decide don't go together?
where can I read it?
Right now, you can't, as I removed the original (pics and all) from the internet as I work on the new one. To hold ya over though, I've posted poem Slaves Can't Relax and an excerpt from my NEWNEW essay White America right on this site!
I Read it when you first posted it, do I need to read this new one?
What really do any of us need to do but stay black and die...but since you've asked, yes. The writing, by the evolutionary nature of any craft, will inevitably be better, the stories are more interesting (especially if you're just nosy) and my commentary is more aggressive than the original. If you just flipped through the pictures and didn't get the chance to read the first time, it will be another go.
can you ride a horse?
You're missing the point!!!!!
But since this is a FAQ...not really, I took a few lessons when I was younger so I can trot, canter, etc. but I haven't ridden in a loooong time and can't do anything fancy. (Yet.)