The little-known history of the Black ‘Concrete Cowboy’
In Philadelphia, a Black cowboy in a white undershirt and a gold chain wrangles a wayward horse. Teens pile hay and clean up manure near brick row houses. Men and women ride cantering horses down a city street as cars pass by.
These are scenes from “Concrete Cowboy,” a new Netflix movie starring Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin. But they’re also the reality in parts of north Philly, where the movie was filmed and a subculture of urban Black cowboys has existed for more than a century.
“It’s a real community that exists right now and has been part of Philadelphia … and other urban cities around America for over 100 years,” Elba said on the “Today” show earlier this month. “These communities had these beautiful animals as part of their lifeblood. And when the motorcars came, the Black folk kept the horses as part of the fabric of their communities.”
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