← Live Wire with Luke Burbank
Live Wire with Luke Burbank
Tara Roberts, Ivan McClellan, and Danielia Cotton
00:52:26
This Black History Month special features writer and explorer Tara Roberts, photojournalist Ivan McClellan, and music from singer-songwriter Danielia Cotton.
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- [00:04]
Luke Burbank
Hey there. Welcome to Livewire. I'm your host, Luke Burbank. Today on the show, we are celebrating Black History Month because black history is everywhere. We're gonna be going everywhere. We're gonna be diving to the bottom of the ocean with National Geographic explorer in residence Tara Roberts. Then we're gonna jump into the rodeo ring with photojournalist Ivan McClellan. His latest project is the book Eight Seconds, which explores black cowboy culture in America through his photographs. He's also going to tell us how he was inspired to start his own black rodeo in Portland. Then we're going to hear some music from singer songwriter Danelia Cotton. She's got a record out that honors Charley Pride, the first black country singer inducted into the Country Music hall of Fame. So that is the plan. This week on the show, saddle up because Livewire gets started right after this.
- [01:01]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
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- [01:32]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
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- [03:01]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
This week, writer and explorer Tara Roberts.
- [03:05]
Tara Roberts
There's so many stories around the trade and they're not just stories of tragedy and trauma. They're also stories of rebellion.
- [03:17]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
And photographer and Rodeo boss Ivan McClellan.
- [03:21]
Ivan McClellan
It is awe inspiring to see a black man or woman on horseback. It symbolizes freedom, independence and living on your own terms.
- [03:30]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
With music from Danelia Cotton and our fabulous house band, I'm your announcer, Elena Passarello. And now the host of Livewire, Luke Burbank.
- [03:43]
Luke Burbank
Hey, thank you so much. ELENA passarello. Thank you, everyone for tuning in from all over America to this week's Livewire. We have a special episode of the show this week. We are celebrating Black History Month and we're going to be sort of breaking up our normal format because we have so much show. We got to get to it right now because we've got some incredible guests for you this week. Our first guest spent the last seven years on an epic journey alongside a group of black scuba divers searching for the remnants of shipwrecks around the world. These were ships that had been transporting enslaved people. And she turned that journey into an award winning podcast. It's called into the Depths and it's also a critically acclaimed memoir now called Written in the Waters, A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging. She's also an explorer in residence at the National Geographic Society. This is Tara Roberts, who joined us at the Alberta Rose Theater in Portland, Oregon, back in November. Take a listen. Tara Roberts, welcome to Livewire.
- [04:51]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Thank you.
- [04:52]
Tara Roberts
Thank you for having me.
- [04:59]
Luke Burbank
So this story for you starts when you were you were in the National Museum of African American history in D.C. which you call the Blacksonian. You were at the Blacksonian. This was in about 2017, I think.
- [05:11]
Tara Roberts
Yeah, 2016. 2017.
- [05:13]
Luke Burbank
And you write that it was, you know, in ways a difficult visit to that museum because there's so much pain and there's so much history that is being displayed. But also you saw this photograph that just like stopped you in your tracks, literally.
- [05:29]
Tara Roberts
So here's the story. I go to the museum and I take my time. It's a big museum. I don't know if any of you have been. Yeah, it's an incredible space. I take my time going through the museum and I end up on the second floor and it's this quiet floor that lots of people skip because it's an archival floor, but I end up there and I see this picture of a group of primarily black women in wetsuits on a boat. That's all it was. But I had never seen a picture of a group of black women in wetsuits on a boat before. So it touched me. And I say this in the book. It's a little extra the way that I say it, but it really felt like, I don't know, like the clouds parted in that moment and the angels started singing and there was like a spotlight on that picture that just stopped me. I was mesmerized by it. And I think that's partly because it took me back to my childhood. I grew up in Atlanta and my mom was a reading teacher. It was just me and my mom. She used to bring these books home for me to read all the time. And I love them. But the books that I loved most were fantasy and sci fi books. I love stories with magic and dragons and unicorns and heroes on adventures and on quests. So when I saw this picture, it made me connect to it and it made me want to be a part of it.
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Announcer (Elena Passarello)
And you didn't know what they were diving for, what they were doing, if they were on vacation. You had no context for the photo.
- [07:18]
Tara Roberts
But you just knew that the photo was special, right? Well, you know, for the first couple of seconds. And then I read.
- [07:23]
Luke Burbank
Right, you read about.
- [07:26]
Tara Roberts
I found out who they were.
- [07:27]
Luke Burbank
And one of them is this guy, Dr. Albert Jose Jones, aka Doc Jones, who I love. There's a line that says Jacques Cousteau was the white Doc Jones. Tell me this guy's story.
- [07:40]
Tara Roberts
Oh, Doc Jones is a legend in the black scuba diving world. So 1. There's a black scuba diving world.
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Danelia Cotton
Woo hoo. Yes, yes.
- [07:55]
Tara Roberts
And Doc Jones is credited as having founded the very first black dive club in the United States. And this is what's amazing, is that that club was founded over 60 years ago.
- [08:10]
Luke Burbank
Wow.
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Tara Roberts
Yeah, right. And then he also founded the national association of Black Scuba Divers, which to date has about 3,000 divers around the world. And I think he's clocked in. Don't quote me on this, but I feel like it's over 10,000 dives. He's in the scuba diving hall of Fame. He's incredible.
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Luke Burbank
Can you tell me about the Henrietta Marie? Sort of where the book starts in a way.
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Tara Roberts
Yeah. So the Henrietta Marie is. It's an English ship that made several journeys. It is, I think, an important ship because it was the very first slave ship to be found. And to be documented. What's really beautiful about this ship is that the group. So these women are all a part of a group called Diving with a Purpose. And this is what they do. And so actually, the Henrietta Marie happened before this group was officially formed, but it was the impetus for the forming of Diving with a Purpose. And what's amazing is that Doc Jones and the national association of Black Scuba Divers raised money to actually put a plaque down at the site. That's like an incredible. Like, one of the first memorials to this history. And here's a little, like, context just to get. I feel like this is a crowd that appreciates stats. I feel like, yes, some stats would be good. So just two stats. And I always share these because I think they help contextualize the trade and they help contextualize this work. So the first stat I want to share is that there were approximately 12,000 ships that brought 12.5 million Africans to the Americas. 12,000 ships. But the thing that amazes me the most about this is what I realized when I learned this, is that when I was growing up, I couldn't tell you the name of a single one of those ships, but yet I could tell you about the Mayflower, I could tell you about the Titanic, but I didn't know a single name of one of those ships. The second stat that is like, this is the one that really sits heaviest on my heart. I learned that there were approximately 1.8 million Africans who died in the crossing from Africa to the Americas. And I always say this like, we're not talking about the number of people who died on the march to the ships or the number of people who died once the ships arrived and they were enslaved just in the ocean. It's 1.8 million people. I think those people deserve to be acknowledged. They deserve to be mourned.
- [11:25]
Luke Burbank
And something that you write about in the book is that very, very few. I think it's like, maybe less than 20 of the possible thousands of ships that were slave ships that sunk have actually been located because there's not a huge financial incentive. They're not necessarily full of treasure or, you know, so this horror that was the slave trade is sort of compounded by the fact that. That there's not interest or enough interest in going and trying to find and honor the people who are part of it. And this is obviously what diving with a purpose is trying to, in a small way, rectify. But it's such a huge job, and there's so much about the diving part of it that I like. Did not know about until I read this book. First of all, what was your level of scuba diver ability before you fell in with this group of people? Zero. For the radio listeners, Tara is making a double zero song. That would be none. So you had to, like, and it's not like, just you're not in like the swimming pool at the Y. Like, you're in the ocean, Right. To get certified, like, you have to do ocean dives, right?
- [12:31]
Tara Roberts
Yeah. So I'm from Atlanta, but Atlanta is very landlocked. Yeah, I love to swim. Like, I grew up in pools, but I didn't know anything about the ocean, so I had to learn that here.
- [12:50]
Luke Burbank
And like, what was that like? Was it scary? Because honestly, you know, I'm fairly comfortable in the water. I've never been to any depth in the ocean. Like you had to do for the book and also just for the training of it. Like, is it mess with your mind to actually be down there? Yeah.
- [13:05]
Tara Roberts
But I will say this for me, like, it's different for everyone. And I bet we got scuba divers in the room. Yes, there's some scuba divers in the room for me. I really love water. I took to scuba diving completely. Like, to me, it's almost like I got introduced to this magical, beautiful world that I didn't know. There's something that is so meditative and just calming to me about diving that it wasn't scary at all. Like, I will never. Well, I won't say never, but likely I will not be an astronaut in this lifetime.
- [13:52]
Luke Burbank
Wait till Jeff Bezos next divorce.
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Tara Roberts
Oh, okay.
- [13:57]
Luke Burbank
That's my plan.
- [14:04]
Tara Roberts
Well, I will say there's something about scuba diving that makes me imagine what it's like to be an astronaut. I feel like when I'm below the water or below the surface, I feel like I'm flying. Do you know, it is just so freeing and beautiful. So I love that. And the thing that we're learning with diving, with a purpose, we become, when we do their training, we become underwater archaeology advocates. So we're down there below the water with clipboards and mylar paper and pencils and measuring tape, and we're measuring the artifacts on the ground. So it is work where we are bringing back into history or back into memory history that is missing and that has been lost. And that just feels amazing. So it's not just the diving, but it's also the work that we're doing that just is so fulfilling.
- [15:05]
Luke Burbank
This is Livewire from prx. We are talking to Tara Roberts about her memoir written in the a memoir of history, home and belonging. We've got to take a very quick break here, but stay with us. More with Tara in just a moment here on Livewire.
- [15:26]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
This show is supported by Odoo. When you buy business software from lots of vendors, the costs add up and it gets complicated and confusing. Odoo solves this. It's a single company that sells a suite of enterprise apps that handles everything from accounting to inventory to sales. Odoo is all connected on a single platform in a simple and affordable way. You can save money without missing out on the features you need. Check out odoo-o o.com that's o d o o.com museums are more than places we visit on a field trip across the country. Museums protect our shared history, care for wildlife and collections, strengthen local economies, support job training, and spark curiosity in people of all ages. Right now, you can help make sure museums stay strong for future generations. Museum Advocacy Day is a national moment when people contact Congress to ask for continued support from museums and the federal agencies that fund them. Learn how to take action@aam-us.org and tell your representatives that museums matter to education, to communities, to the economy and to our democracy.
- [16:42]
Luke Burbank
Welcome back to livewire. I'm your host Luke Burbank, here with Elena Passarello. We are celebrating black history this week on the show and chatting with Tara Roberts about her memoir, Written in the Waters, A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging. The book traces her experience with other black scuba divers as they searched for sunken slave ships around the world. Let's get back into that conversation. As you describe in the book, the shipwrecks don't often look like we think a shipwreck might. You think you're gonna go down there and it's gonna be perfectly preserved. And it's like you're looking for these very, sometimes very indications of where stuff has built up. And I mean, the technical precision that's necessary, like you said to all of the geography and geometry of it is very, very calculated and scientific.
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Tara Roberts
Yeah, absolutely. The search for slave shipwrecks in particular doesn't start in the ocean. There's likely, there's probably no way that you would be able to just go for a dive and happen upon a ship. And that's because most of them were made out of wood. They were built in the 1500s, 1600s, 1700s. So when they wreck, they splinter on the ocean floor. And then over time, the ocean reclaims them. So now they are parts of reefs or they're parts of marine life they're parts of homes of marine life. So you don't just find one. The work for diving or finding a slave shipwreck, it starts in the archives first. So historians do the work of combing through the records to see where ships went down. And there are a lot of records. And that's because the transatlantic slave trade was big business, and a lot of money was made off of it. So a lot of the ships were insured. And then if they wreck, a lot of these financial backers file claims because they want to get paid. And so all of that is recorded. You know, when you have an insurance claim, the insurance company is like, well, we gonna check out everything. It's the same case with these ships. So they check it out. And then once the historians have located a possible location, then the mowing the lawn comes into effect. And they use all sorts of equipment to go up and down the ocean over a particular area looking for anomalies. And then once they find that, then the scuba divers go down to actually put eyes on it and to see what it is. And then they test those things with the archaeologists.
- [19:24]
Luke Burbank
I didn't realize this, but there were also rebellions that went on on these ships. And in fact, they were often led by women.
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Tara Roberts
Yeah, but I think the biggest point is that there's so many stories around the trade that are unknown and that deserve to be known. And they're not just stories of death and tragedy and trauma. They're also stories of rebellion, of survival, of creativity. And yes, it was the status that one out of every ten ships experienced a rebellion. And often those rebellions were put down pretty brutally. But you had people on there who were not passive, people on there who were resisting. They were people, you know, like, they were more than just victims or more than just statistics. So what we're doing with this work is trying to bring these stories back into memory. We're trying to reduce the trade to human scale so that you're actually thinking about people versus this horrible thing that you don't want to think about. And all the stories, again, they are not just stories of death. Like, there are a number of stories that they survived these wrecks.
- [20:49]
Luke Burbank
Those are like the Christianus and the Fredericus, right?
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Sponsor/Support Announcer
Yes.
- [20:53]
Luke Burbank
Tell us about that.
- [20:54]
Tara Roberts
Okay.
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Ivan McClellan
Okay.
- [20:58]
Tara Roberts
So that's a great story. Those are. It's two Danish ships that went down in Costa Rica in the early 1700s. And I mean, it's a fascinating story because I won't. Because we got a little bit of time, but the crew actually mutinied on those two ships. And they took over the ships because they didn't appreciate the direction of the captain. And so. And they also, they got lost, so they didn't make it where they were trying to go. And they ended up in Costa Rica. And when the crew mutinied, they decided to let all of the captive Africans in the cargo hold go. And so those people were let go on the shores of Costa Rica and they disappeared into the hills. And then there are all kinds of stories in Costa Rica about what happened to them.
- [21:56]
Luke Burbank
Yeah. And you went and talked to folks who were descendants of those people.
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Tara Roberts
They think they're descendants, maybe. Yes. And the amazing thing about the Costa Rica story is that the people who found the pieces of the ship were young people between the ages of 14 and 18.
- [22:15]
Luke Burbank
Wow.
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Tara Roberts
So these young people who find the evidence and who end up getting the community excited about this find and then the community decides to invite the archaeologists in to explore the wreck. A lot of times it's just the opposite where archaeologists go into communities and, and they tell the community what's important, they do the studies and then they leave and they take their information with them. But in this case the community was like, oh no, this is ours. And you're going to acknowledge the young people, we want them credited. So it's quite an inspiring story in Costa Rica.
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Luke Burbank
One of the big themes in this book seems to be your journey of wanting to understand this history, but also wanting to not be re traumatized to a point where you might not be able to come back from it. Because as you mentioned, these were three dimensional human beings who lived all kinds of lives. And it's not just their story of sadness, but for you as a black person to really sit with that information and the other diving with a purpose, folks talking about trying to unfog their diving masks from tears. I guess my question is, now that you know so much more about this and the Middle Passage than you did back when you were in the Blacksonian all those years ago, do you feel informed, traumatized, all of it?
- [23:44]
Tara Roberts
This might be a little bit of a surprising answer. I think what I feel more than anything being a part of this work is I feel a profound sense of joy because I realized that I have, we have these other divers, these historians, these archaeologists, we have raised our hands and we have said we're not going to wait for anyone else to prioritize this history. We're going to volunteer our time to go down and to bring it up from the depths. That means that I can say to the ancestors who were lost. I see you. I haven't forgotten about you. And I'm going to help tell your story, because the thing is, I always say this. The transatlantic slave trade is one of the most monumental events in human history. It changed everything. Those 400 years of ships traversing the Atlantic created wealth. It destroyed wealth. It changed landscapes. It created trade routes that we still use today. It changed everything. And yet we don't study is not black history, or it's not just black history, it's not just American history, it's global history. Europe, Africa, North America, South America and the Caribbean would not be what they are today if not for the trade. So it is my deepest joy to help bring this history back into memory, because I also believe that the trade served not only those things, but it served to connect us. There's a way. Europe, Africa, North America, South America, the Caribbean, we are a part of each other. If you just think about the transfer of cultures, of ideas, of religions, of goods, of people, we are a part of each other that we can't undo. So I always imagine this, and I always ask this question. If we could see that connection, if we could see, truly lean into how we're connected to each other, could that change how we think we're responsible for each other? So to me, To me, this work is all about healing and honoring, and that gives me a great sense of joy to be a part of it.
- [27:06]
Luke Burbank
Well, for folks who, like me, did not know nearly enough about the specifics of this, a really good place to start is this book written in the A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging. Tara Roberts, thank you so much for coming on Livewire. That was Tara Roberts right here on Livewire. Her book, written in the A Memoir of History, Home and Belonging, is available now. Hey, special thanks this episode to David R. Gross of Seattle, Washington, and Frank Hood of Portland, Oregon. David and Frank are part of the Livewire member community, and they are generously supporting our show with a donation each month. And, boy, are we grateful for that, because it is the only way that Livewire can exist, I tell you what. So thanks again, David and Frank, for keeping Livewire going. This is Livewire. All right, our next guest is a photojournalist and designer whose work has been featured in espn, gq, and the New York Times. His book of photography, eight Seconds, explores black cowboy culture in America through photos. It's a culture that has been around for a long time. It even predates Beyonce, making it cool, if you can believe that. He's also the Rodeo boss. That's the real name for the job of the 8 seconds Juneteenth Rodeo here in Portland. Take a listen to this. It's Ivan McClellan. We recorded this at the Resource center for the Arts and in Beaverton back in May of 2024. Ivan, welcome to the show.
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Ivan McClellan
Yeah, thanks for having me on here.
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Luke Burbank
This book is phenomenal. I mean, just the photography in it is incredible. The subjects. The subject matter, which I think a lot of people maybe aren't as aware of. I'm curious. Growing up, what was your sense of the existence of black cowboy culture?
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Ivan McClellan
You know, I grew up in Kansas City, Kansas. There were black cowboys around, but I didn't really think of them as cowboys because, like, my mom took us to see Tombstone and there were no black people in that movie at all. Like, no extras. I don't even think there was a black horse in that movie. Like, it was just. It was pristine white. And. And so, like watching that and the Beverly Hillbillies and Bonanza reruns and Gunsmoke and stuff like that, I thought, well, Mr. Wills down the street has cows, but he's not a cowboy. Cause that's what white guys do. We would go to church on Sundays and we would stop by a place called Benjamin Ranch and we would ride horses in our church clothes every once in a while.
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Luke Burbank
I was surprised that you were allowed to do that.
- [30:05]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, Grandma would let us do it every once in a while. We couldn't do it every Sunday. It was something that I enjoyed. Whenever we'd have, like, the church picnic, they would have pigs and cows. So we were like country. And we kind of thought of our upbringing like that. But. But cowboy and really wasn't. Wasn't anything that I recognized or identified.
- [30:23]
Luke Burbank
With because the pop culture of it was so dominantly white.
- [30:27]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, there was, you know, I didn't see any. Any black country singers. I didn't see. You know, we would see, like, you would see a black man in a cowboy hat, but that was like in Blazing Saddles, Sheriff Mart or Pee Wee's Playhouse.
- [30:42]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Cowboy Curtis.
- [30:42]
Ivan McClellan
Cowboy Curtis, yeah, was on there. And so it was just sort of like a joke. Like, what if a black guy was a cowboy, Wouldn't that be funny? Was sort of the thinking that I had. But I didn't know anything about the history and really didn't identify the people around me like that.
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Luke Burbank
How did you then end up at the Roy LeBlanc Invitational?
- [31:01]
Ivan McClellan
So I left Kansas City, Kansas. I moved to New York City, started a design career, ended up Getting a job out in Portland in 2011 at the companies that I worked for, There would be, like, 200 people there, and I would be the only black person. So I felt really uncomfortable. I had imposter syndrome and was just sort of wearing chinos, and nobody knew who Luther Vandross was. And it was just, like, sort of, like. Like awkward. So I was at a party one day, and this filmmaker came up to me, and I turned around. He's a black guy, tall black guy, salt and pepper afro. His name's Charles Perry. I asked him what he was working on, and he said, I'm working on a movie about black cowboys. I said, oh, like a western? He said, no, a documentary. And I think I laughed at him because I was like, where did you find these black cowboys at to do your documentary? And he was like, well, come with me to Okmokee, Oklahoma, this summer. There's a black rodeo down there. I want you to come down and take pictures and see it for yourself. And. And I went. It was 105 degrees down there. It was 100% humidity. There were grasshoppers jumping on my clothes. I was wearing. I was wearing my work chinos, and I was wearing wingtips with no socks, and there were, like, chiggers biting my ankles. It was. It was. It was pretty rough. But there were thousands of black cowboys, Thousands of them. And they were doing the cupid shuffle in their boots, and they were riding horses in Jordans with no shirt and chains. And, you know, women were riding the barrels with their braids blowing behind them and their acrylic nails clutching the reins. And it was just like this beautiful mixture of western culture with black culture that I was familiar with.
- [32:49]
Luke Burbank
We're Talking to Ivan McClellan about his new book, 8 Seconds Black Rodeo culture. When did you start to think, okay, this actually should be a book?
- [32:58]
Ivan McClellan
You know, it was years. I mean, this was 2015 that I went to my first rodeo, and I kept going back year after year just to be immersed in the culture. And because I loved it. I loved the fashion. I loved the smoked turkey legs. I loved all of it. Just being there was like a vacation for me. So I would. I would. I ended up going to, like, 10, 10 of these rodeos a year around the country.
- [33:21]
Luke Burbank
Oh, wow.
- [33:23]
Ivan McClellan
And really didn't do anything with the photos for a long time. My wife eventually was like, hey, this is kind of expensive. What are you doing? What's the move? And I started an Instagram account and started posting the photos on there, and people were really Receptive. A lot of people were like, oh, I didn't know anything about this either. Black folks and white folks alike. So that started moving. It was really during the pandemic that I was like, I think I've got something here. Portland was shut down. Everybody was double masked. When they were, like, running, it was like the apocalypse here. Oklahoma. Nope, the pandemic didn't happen there for some reason. Like, it was completely open. People were eating at Chili's, and they were having these rodeos with people on top of each other. So I was, like, taking pandemic vacations down to Oklahoma and really, really got into the work during that period. And it started to get started to develop into a book around then.
- [34:22]
Luke Burbank
There's a forward in this book that's written by the bull rider who happens to be a black man, Charlie Sampson. And it's kind of charming because he's complimenting you and how he felt really connected to you when he met you, but also that you did not know your way around a horse. He was calling you out for being a bit of a tenderfoot or whatever.
- [34:42]
Ivan McClellan
In my own book. Yeah.
- [34:43]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, right. And you included it. I wonder what that was like for. For you to immerse yourself in this culture where there's a real value on knowing how to ride a horse, knowing your way around the scene. And you must have not known your way around the scene at all when you started. Was that intimidating?
- [34:59]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, absolutely. Like, I mean, the first thing you do is when you meet someone is you shake their hand. And, you know, I met a guy named Robert Crif, and he had hands like 12 grit sandpaper. And my hands are like dragonfly wings because I work in tech and design. And, you know, it's just like, the minute that you meet someone, they know that you're not of the culture. But that's okay. That's completely fine. Because they're just as curious about me as I am about them, and they want to know why I'm there and why I'm interested in it.
- [35:33]
Luke Burbank
When did you add the cowboy hat to the fit?
- [35:36]
Ivan McClellan
So I was dressing like this, shooting these rodeos, and somebody came up to me and they were like, you can't be up on the buck and shoots. You can't be hanging out on fences dressed like that. You got to dress the part if you're going to be here, huh? And. And so the next rodeo I came back, I was wearing jeans and a belt and boots and a hat. The first time I wore my hat, I had it on backward and somebody. It's really difficult. I mean, like, you know.
- [36:02]
Luke Burbank
Yeah, honestly, that's backwards. That looks exactly the same.
- [36:11]
Ivan McClellan
But somebody came up to me and was like, hey, that'd look better if you wore it the other way. And I was like, oh, man, I'm out of control. But, you know, now I've got my hat shaped, you know, I've got it together. I wear it a specific way. I always double check and make sure I'm wearing it the correct way when I put it on. But it's really like at my rodeo and other rodeos, it's the expectation that I have this thing on. Take.
- [36:36]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Does it change the way you take pictures when you're dressed, like, full out versus the Kansas City Royals hat and the linen shirt and the Cheetos?
- [36:43]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, I think so. It's actually a lot less comfortable than showing up and shooting a rodeo and sneakers and sweatpants and sometimes you gotta get out of the way. I will shoot in the dirt while somebody's riding a bull and when they get off, the bull is just looking for anybody to take revenge on. And. And so I've had to jump over fences and boots are not the right thing to be jumping over a fence in. You know, I'd rather have on some cleats or something like that.
- [37:11]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Plus, you look more like the dude that pissed him off.
- [37:13]
Ivan McClellan
You know, if you're wearing the Kansas.
- [37:14]
Luke Burbank
City royal stuff, you might want to go back to the chinos. The bull would be like, that wasn't the guy that did this to me.
- [37:20]
Ivan McClellan
That's somebody's grandpa.
- [37:23]
Luke Burbank
I was wondering if you wouldn't mind reading from the book. It's a book of photography, but there is this letter that you've kind of written to the idea of black cowboy culture and why you've become so attached to it. Would you mind reading that?
- [37:37]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, absolutely. March 27, 2023, 3:05pm to the Cowboy culture that has taken hold of me and changed my life. As I sit down to pen these words, my heart fills with admiration for everything you represent. You're not just a way of life, but a symbol of resilience, courage, and determination. For centuries, you have braved the harsh conditions of the open range, tamed wild horses, and herded cattle across vast stretches of land. You have faced the unpredictable forces of nature and humankind and embraced a changing world, all while never losing your spirit. From the first shutter click, I knew there was something special. The first day in OKMULGEE, Oklahoma, In 2015, I entered Oz and was transfixed Hundreds of black people were already there, sitting in the shade, conversing with each other, having beers, barbecuing and listening to gospel, R and B and hip hop. It had the atmosphere of a family reunion, a church fundraiser and a party all rolled into one. People were selling bedazzled cowboy hats. Women were braiding hair out on the lawn. It was black culture, and it was cowboys. Your embodiment of camaraderie and solidarity reflects a hallmark passed down through generations. It's not uncommon to see cowboys saddling up each other's horses, helping friends into the chute and tightening bull ropes, loaning vests or holding each other's hats. The cowboy culture fosters a natural willingness to. To lend a helping hand. But it's not just a sense of community that makes you unique. There is a certain romance and beauty to your way of life that many people can only dream of. The vast open spaces, the endless blue skies, and the quiet solitude of loping in a ring. It is awe inspiring to see a black man or woman on horseback. It symbolizes freedom, independence, and living on your own terms. Cowboy culture has always been synonymous with hard times, and I have seen it firsthand in my journey with you. Losing friends and acquaintances along the way, sometimes taking the last photo of people before they were killed or arrested. Their life attracts folks with the grit to push past the odds and continue despite their trauma and pain. When I was young, I could never envision myself as an old man. But now I. I can quite clearly see myself as an old rodeo boss, perched on a fence, drenched in sweat under the blazing sun. As I pass on this legacy to my children, I'm humbled by the realization that it's a treasure trove that I never knew I had the right to possess. I'm overjoyed that when my kids color a cowboy in their coloring book, they color in brown. As the culture continues to grow and evolve, I still preserve the essence of the past. The fire in a cowboy's heart, the determination to succeed, the willingness to take risk and chase dreams remains the same. Rodeo embodies everything magnificent about the cowboy culture, and it's an honor to contribute to its preservation for generations to come. I hope my work has done you justice. You're more than a way of life. You're a symbol of wealth, prosperity, and for me, home. I'll always hold you close to my heart. Ivan.
- [41:07]
Luke Burbank
That's Ivan McClellan reading from his new book. It's a book Primarily of photos. 8 seconds. Black Rodeo culture here on Livewire. Radio the photos in this book are just so spectacular. But the COVID photo, you were telling me backstage, it looks the way that it does because of the particular camera that you're using to take these pictures, which then, when you explain it to me, sounded like you're making your life intentionally way harder.
- [41:33]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah, Yeah. I shoot with a. With a medium format camera, which anybody that does photography knows that is the exact wrong camera to shoot action with. But when you get a photo right, you get it really right. It's really beautiful. Every other photographer that's at the rodeo has got a long lens and a really fast Canon or a Nikon, and they see me with a short lens, a 35 millimeter lens, and this giant camera, and they're like, what are you doing?
- [42:02]
Luke Burbank
Because at its most rapid, you can only take a picture every three seconds.
- [42:07]
Ivan McClellan
Something like that. Yeah.
- [42:08]
Luke Burbank
And the entire ride is eight seconds if it goes well.
- [42:11]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah. So you got two chances to get a photo. Get a photo. Right. But I evolved into this because a lot of what I shoot is behind the scenes. I shoot a lot of portraits. There's a lot of pictures of just people standing with their horse in the book. But then the rodeo happens, and I don't really have anything to do. So I would go in the arena and start taking photos with the same camera. And sometimes I would get it right, and it was. It was just magical.
- [42:38]
Luke Burbank
Feels like you have gone from being somebody that wasn't particularly familiar with this world to being very, very kind of enmeshed in it to the degree that you're now the rodeo boss for this Juneteenth rodeo that's happening in Portland. What does that actually involve you doing?
- [42:53]
Ivan McClellan
I own the rodeo. I'm the founder and CEO of the 8Seconds Juneteenth Rodeo. It's the first black rodeo in the Pacific Northwest.
- [43:03]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
Wow.
- [43:08]
Ivan McClellan
Thank you. Yeah. So, you know, there's a lot of pride in the community here. It's a gathering of the black community. Everybody's welcome. We're gonna celebrate the legacy of black cowboys in the Pacific Northwest. But then we also have a heck of a time. I think we're gonna play the entire Beyonce album this year.
- [43:28]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Oh, yeah.
- [43:30]
Luke Burbank
I just have to say, the book is incredible. I'm so excited. I'm picking up a copy after the show because it just. It portrays a version of life that so many people like me and that look like me maybe haven't considered fully. And to just see how varied people's experiences are and how nothing is what you expect it to be or Whatever your idea of who is a cowboy and who isn't or how people are living, this just blows a lot of that up. And it's just a really, really special piece of work.
- [43:53]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah. Much appreciated. It's a real point of pride, and I'm just really excited. You know, Instagram is a horrible place as a photographer because the whole job is to get someone to stop. They're scrolling, they're scrolling. They see something interesting, they double tap, they move on. This book allows you to meditate and, like, really take your time. And it allowed me to kind of put photos that I love but that don't get people to stop. There was just like a picture of a church with a septic tank in front of it. It's really not that interesting, but it's a place and it sets up the rhythm of the book.
- [44:31]
Luke Burbank
Well, congratulations on it, and good luck with the rodeo. Coming up, Ivan McClellan, everyone, right here on LiveWire. That was Ivan McClellan here on LiveWire, recorded live at the research center in Beaverton, Oregon. Ivan's book, 8 Seconds is available right now. You are tuned into Livewire. We're going to take a very quick break, but stay where you are. When we come back, we have got some music and a chat with Danelia Cotton. Don't go anywhere. Welcome back to Livewire. I'm your host, Luke Burbank, here with Elena Passarello. We are celebrating Black history Month this week on the show. All right. Our musical guest this week is a powerhouse indie rocker who hails from Hopewell, New Jersey, where she was raised on a steady diet of AC dc, Led Zeppelin, and the Rolling Stones. Now, when she launched her career with the release of her first album, she was selected as an artist to watch by WXPN in Philadelphia. And her latest project shows kind of a whole other side of her musical upbringing. It's called Charlie's Pride. It's a tribute to black country music which pays homage to the trailblazer Charley Pride. He was the first black American voted into the country music hall of Fame. While infusing the songs with a fresh, modern approach that's all her own. Take a listen to this. It's Danelia Cotton recorded live at the resource center for the Arts in Beaverton, Oregon. We recorded this back in November of 2024. Hey there. Welcome to Livewire.
- [46:10]
Danelia Cotton
Thank you.
- [46:10]
Luke Burbank
Thanks for traveling all the way out here to do this. We really appreciate it. Did I read correctly that this project started out with you finding a Charley Pride album that belonged to your 101 year old grandmother.
- [46:21]
Danelia Cotton
No, but she's 103 and she would kill you for those two years. It actually belonged to my grandfather, who is her husb. Who's no longer with us. And he hid it under the bed because he was like a closeted country fan. And she. When it all came out, she was like, it was my album and he took it.
- [46:41]
Luke Burbank
But I stand by my initial statement that this was your grandmother's record. Why was it the case that this was. When I was reading this interview with you talking about it, it was news to me that as a black person in America, at a certain point, point to light country music was something that you might have to keep from the wider world.
- [47:01]
Danelia Cotton
They moved to Hopewell in about like 1941. And it wasn't like. It wasn't like black men were all over the country.
- [47:09]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
Yeah.
- [47:10]
Danelia Cotton
Giddy up, yo. Yeah, and I don't. He was a quiet man. And very much, I mean, the similarity between him and Charley Pride's story, he was just. He didn't think about Hopewell as a white town. He just saw 10 acres he wanted to buy and raise his kids. And, you know, I think Charley Pride didn't think, oh, this is a white genre. I just like this genre. So they're sort of in that way. And then they were both like regal, quiet men and.
- [47:39]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
Yeah.
- [47:39]
Danelia Cotton
And they earned the respect. Charley Pride earned the respect in his genre. And my grandfather, everyone loved him. He was quite a person.
- [47:48]
Tara Roberts
Yeah.
- [47:49]
Luke Burbank
How do you take your particular style of music and then take the music of Charley Pride and interpret it in a way that is yours, but still also honoring him?
- [48:00]
Danelia Cotton
I think that's a good question because I think a lot of artists that are going into country, I think. I don't like when certain people say it should all be just one genre. I think there is value to all the genres being what they are. But I believe if you go into a genre and you have to tip your hat somewhat to what it is, you can't recreate it. I mean, you can, but it's not. I don't think it's the way to go in with respect.
- [48:27]
Luke Burbank
I see.
- [48:27]
Danelia Cotton
You know, and I think then you're not really doing country music. You have to, to some degree put a little bit, you know, in there.
- [48:37]
Ivan McClellan
Yeah.
- [48:39]
Danelia Cotton
So, yeah, I think that that's important and it shows respect and honor for what you're, you know, where you're about to go.
- [48:46]
Luke Burbank
We actually here at this very stage, we talked to the photographer Ivan McClellan some months ago about his beautiful book of photography taken at black rodeos, obviously. Cowboy Carter. Beyonce's record has been this smash hit. Do you have any sense that the black country and black cowboy experience is starting to, at least in some small way, get its due?
- [49:07]
Danelia Cotton
I do. I absolutely do. Like, I had done this project, but there sh. She opened a door and there's still. I mean, we still have to. As a race, we're still fighting for equality, really, on all levels. And so every once in a while, when a door is open in some respect where we couldn't get in, as many of us try to run through as possible because it will shut again. But I think that, you know, I have to give it to her. She opened that door wider, and then there were many that were there. Yeah, but they got the light, you know, shone on them at that point. So you can't. You know, a lot of people are like, ah, she done wasn't doing their country, you know, I mean, she. Her popularity and her stature allowed a whole bunch of people to be seen. I got to give that to her. That's just.
- [49:55]
Tara Roberts
Yeah.
- [49:56]
Luke Burbank
Well, we're excited to hear some music. What song are we going to hear?
- [49:59]
Danelia Cotton
This is called Bring out the country and Me. And it's basically. It's the only original from the album. I wanted to put one on that was just mine. And it's basically when I moved to the city, I could not be me, like, growing up, you know, My other half was born and raised there, and so he was like, why are you. You don't wave to people. Like, look down. Like. It was difficult for me, but I stayed me. It actually made me more me. You're you. I'm like, authentically Danelia no matter where I am.
- [50:28]
Luke Burbank
All right, Danelia Cotton here on Livewire.
- [50:39]
Danelia Cotton
Last stop to the shitty guitar in my hand Got a suitcase full of dreams I ain't got no plans Too many faces, too many places could almost lose who I am Everything's moving fast right now I will trade concrete for blue grass oh, these big shifty lights Bring out the country and me say hello and goodbye to everyone that I'll see When I close my eyes I'll see that old cherry tree country girl is all I'll ever be country girl is love I'll never be. I got a job, got a room Gotta walk up ten flies at the end of the day it's worth the prize, yeah when something goes wrong I write a song Then the world feels so right Gonna make my mom proud Gonna sing it high and loud.
- [52:16]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
Oh.
- [52:16]
Danelia Cotton
No, the Big sifty lights Bring out the country me say hello and goodbye to everyone that I'll see When I close my eyes I'll see that old cherry tree country life is still a part of me country girl is oh I'll never be oh. Yeah no no oh Cause it's fixing lives Bring out the country in me say hello and goodbye to everyone that I see When I close my eyes I see that a oh Cherry tree Country life is still upon me Big air, big city lights Bring out the country and me I say low and goodbye to every one that I see When I close my eyes I see that old cherry dream Your country life is still a part of me and our country girl is high oh oh I'll never be.
- [54:02]
Luke Burbank
That was Danelia Cotton, recorded live at the Resource center for the Arts in Beaverton, Oregon. All right, that is going to do it for this week's episode of Livewire. A huge thanks to our guests Tara Roberts, Ivan McClellan and Danelia Cotton. Special thanks this episode to Amanda Bullock and the Portland Book Festival.
- [54:25]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Lara Hatton is our executive producer, Heather D. Michel is our executive director, and our producer and editor is Melanie Savchenko. Eben Hoffer is our technical director, with support from Leona Kinderman and Trey Hester is our assistant editor.
- [54:38]
Luke Burbank
Valentine Keck is our operations manager, and Ashley park is our marketing manager. Our house sound is by Dean Blake and Nate Zwalinsk, and our house band is Ethan Fox Tucker, Eyal Alves, Sam Pinkerton in a Walker Spring who also composes our music. This show was mixed by Eben Hoffer and Trey Hester.
- [54:56]
Announcer (Elena Passarello)
Additional funding provided by the James F. And Marian L. Miller Foundation. Livewire was created by Robin Tenenbaum and Kate Sokoloff. This week we'd like to thank members David R. Gross of Seattle, Washington and Frank Hood of Portland, Oregon.
- [55:09]
Sponsor/Support Announcer
Woo hoo.
- [55:10]
Luke Burbank
For more information about our show or how you can listen to our podcast, skedaddle on over to livewireradio.org I'm Luke Burbank for Elena Passarello and the whole Livewire crew. Thank you for listening and we will see you next week. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a piping hot episode of Livewire delivered right to your heart and ears each week? Well, guess what? That can happen when you subscribe to the Livewire podcast feed and you'll get the joy of surprising conversation every week. So go ahead and do it. It's super easy. You click on the button at the top of your podcast app and bam. You are Livewire subscribed. And if you're still, you know, feeling the love, if you're enjoying the show, hey, maybe you could hook us up and leave us a quick review that'll help more people find out about Livewire. And thank you.
- [56:14]
Tara Roberts
From prx.