Jordan Peele’s ‘High Horse: The Black Cowboy’ doc sheds light on an
erased part of history
[November 22, 2025]
By GARY GERARD HAMILTON
NEW YORK (AP) — Texas-bred hip-hop duo UGK glared confidently into the
camera atop stallions in the music video for their fan-favorite song
“Wood Wheel.” The visuals reflected the expertise of the legendary
Houston-area music act: blending tales of big city hustling with
charming Texas cowboy culture.
“This is not Black people trying to assimilate with this country Western
lifestyle. Black people across this country – East Coast to West Coast –
have been prevalent in this space for years,” said Bun B, who, with
partner Pimp C, became pillars of southern hip-hop, creating hits to
help it become today's current dominant rap genre.
Bun, an ambassador for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo and the
first and only Black male hip-hop headliner in its history, shares his
experiences in “High Horse: The Black Cowboy,” a new docuseries
executive produced by Jordan Peele and his Monkeypaw Productions. The
project highlights Black men, who it says were the first Americans
referred to as cowboys, a term initially steeped in racism as it
contrasted them with white “cowhands.” The series attempts to refute the
pop culture images of the men whose tall boots and Stetson hats are
seared into American mythology.
One in four cowboys were Black, even though in the late 19th century
they made up a much smaller segment of the U.S. population, according to
research by historian Bruce Glasrud.
“Being a Black performer at this 90-plus year concert series has been
amazing for me, but it’s also given me a deeper perspective of
understanding the Black cowboys’ place in American history,” Bun told
The Associated Press. “It’s really energized me to try to fill this void
of confusion where people who are somewhat aware typically will have a
distorted view.”
‘Who erased the Black cowboy?'
Directed by Jason Perez and streaming on Peacock, the three-part
docuseries is an extension of Peele’s 2022 blockbuster film “Nope.”
Starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer, the movie follows siblings who
operate the only Black-owned horse ranch in California, training horses
for Hollywood productions.
The sci-fi horror film mentions Eadweard Muybridge, a pioneer of motion
photography and his groundbreaking “The Horse in Motion” moving image,
noting that while the horse, Sallie Gardner, has always been recognized,
the Black jockey riding her remains largely unknown.
“We just decided to go on this journey to really figure out, or to pose
the question, what happened to the Black cowboy? Who erased the Black
cowboy?” said Keisha Senter, the company's senior vice president of
culture and impact and an executive producer on the project. “At
Monkeypaw, we really think erasure is a horror story.”
“High Horse” is filled with archival footage and photos to provide
context of the lives of early Black cowboys. In addition to creating a
more complete composite of the Old West, it documents how Black cowboy
communities remain vibrant in various pockets across the country, while
following their struggles and triumphs.
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This image released by Peacock shows filmmaker Jordan Peele from the
documentary "High Horse: The Black Cowboy." (Troy Harvey/Peacock via
AP)
 Series spotlights African
American country western history
The docuseries focuses on the history and erasure of the Black
cowboy, systemic racism and the current battles Black citizens face
with land ownership dating back to the post-slavery Reconstruction
era, and the entertainment impact African Americans have made
throughout country western history. It arrives amid the nation's
current political flashpoints. Critics of the Trump administration
note its policies disproportionately and negatively affect Black
Americans, including eliminating DEI programs, mass layoffs at
federal agencies, and cuts to SNAP benefits, Medicare and Medicaid.
Peele, Glynn Turman, Pam Grier, Tina Knowles and Rick Ross, who all
make appearances, speak to their own experiences with cowboy
culture. R&B legend Raphael Saadiq provides the project's original
score.
“This is an important time in history, and I can see the writing on
the wall," said Turman, a New York City-raised actor who’s lived on
a California ranch for decades. “This is a survival tool that we’ve
been handed with this documentary.”
Turman, the 78-year-old Emmy winner who received a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame in July, is no stranger to using
entertainment to educate. He starred as retired Army colonel
Bradford Taylor on the hit ’90s sitcom “A Different World,” a
spinoff from “The Cosby Show" set on the campus of a historically
Black college.
“I’m from the generation where we made great strides — strides at
great costs. And to see us in a time where the institutions are
trying to indeed negate those strides, it’s disheartening,” Turman
said of the current political divisiveness in the country.
Cowboy culture and gatekeeping reaches pop culture fever pitch
The docuseries also wades briefly into the conversation surrounding
the ownership of cowboy culture and the gatekeeping surrounding it.
That topic reached a pop cultural fever pitch in recent years,
thanks to inflection points such Beyoncé's “Cowboy Carter” album and
her subsequent album of the year win at the Grammys in February.
There's also Lil Nas X’s record-breaking 2019 smash “Old Town Road,”
the viral line dance for “Boots on the Ground” by 803Fresh,
western-themed Hollywood productions like “The Harder They Fall” and
“Lawmen: Bass Reeves," and Ivan McClellan’s book, “Eight Seconds:
Black Rodeo Culture.”
Bun says the heart of “High Horse” is examining this ignored — or
erased — slice of history to gain greater insight about the country
overall.
“It’s not a Black story — this is an American story," said the past
distinguished lecturer at Houston's Rice University. “This will turn
everything that you know about the American cowboy on its head in
the right way, and put these things into proper historical context.
And that benefits all Americans.”
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