Black cowboy culture is getting its moment in the sun.
Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” album, Shaboozey’s popular single “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” films like “The Harder They Fall,” and the Black riders on horseback during the George Floyd protests have helped further shed light on the popularity of Black cowboys and cowgirls. Now a new series adds to it.
“Beyond Black Beauty” expands on the often-adapted classic 1877 novel “Black Beauty” with an 11-episode series on Prime Video centering Black people, Black girls and women specifically. Jolie Dumont is a teen equestrian with dreams of competing in the Olympics.
Jolie’s parents separate following her father’s business failings, ripping her from an affluent life in Belgium, where her father is from, to a new one in Baltimore, where her mother’s sister runs their family’s century-old ranch. There, Jolie discovers more about herself and her mother’s family’s long horse lineage, especially with her cousin Ronnie at her side.
“Beyond Black Beauty” creator and showrunner Pilar Golden said the task of adapting “this really beautiful” story for the 21st century was daunting.
“I pondered, ‘How do I do that? How do I make it different?’ because ‘Black Beauty’ has existed forever as a black horse and a white character,” the first-time showrunner said. “And so, as a Black woman, I was like, ‘Well, I definitely want to see Black women.’ So this is my love letter to the Black women who raised me.”
Golden is from Maryland and said she chose Baltimore as the show’s setting particularly because “audiences are familiar with Baltimore through the lens of ‘The Wire,’ which is one of my favorite shows.”
But she also wanted to expand that understanding of her home city. In crafting “Beyond Black Beauty,” Golden said she wanted to create a family show with the Black family being “driven by legacy.”
“Something that was really important is highlighting a Black family that owns something,” she said. “They’ve owned their land for a hundred years, they’ve been dealing with horses for a hundred years, and they’ve been at the forefront of cowboy culture for a hundred years.”
In addition to Jolie’s mom, Janelle; aunt Yvonne; and cousin Ronnie, there are her grandparents; a love interest in the handsome young Alvin; and her mom’s connection to old flame Rashad, which comes with a believable love triangle. And, of course, there is the horse, Beauty, whom no one understands like Jolie.
Jolie was an English rider in Belgium and wants to continue that style in Baltimore with her idol Gretchen, but she also learns about Western riding through her family, a style showcased at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo represented in the series that features barrel racing and other activities.
To nail Black cowboy culture, Golden consulted with Erin Brown. The “Concrete Cowgirl,” as she’s known, also worked on the 2020 Netflix film “Concrete Cowboy” starring Idris Elba and set in her native Philadelphia, where she’s been a fixture for more than 30 years. Brown said she welcomes the portrait “Beyond Black Beauty” paints of the culture.
“I grew up in that culture, and it’s so similar to ‘Beyond Black Beauty,’” said Brown, who has been competing since she was 7. “It really felt like real life at certain points.”
Brown said she is pleased with the rising prevalence of Black cowboy culture, from Beyoncé to “Beyond Black Beauty,” because collectively they are “opening the opportunity to a much younger crowd that didn’t know this Black cowboy, cowgirl, equestrian culture even existed.”
Kaya Coleman, who plays Jolie, did not ride horses prior to the show and, like many, wasn’t aware of Black cowboy culture and history.
“I was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta,” she said. “We have a lot of horses here, but I always felt it was for a specific culture. I never thought I would have a chance to be a part of it. So when I learned about Black cowboy culture, it made sense in my soul.”
