The Black Cowboy Grassroots Tour USA
A Decade in the Making: .
What started as a two-year film project turned into a ten-year journey across America.
That “life” included limited funding, a small crew, and the reality of being a film school dropout navigating the independent film world without industry connections. Instead of stopping the project, Perry adapted. He did what many filmmakers wouldn’t—or couldn’t—do: he moved into the communities he was documenting.
Over the last decade, Perry has filmed and documented Black cowboys and cowgirls across the United States, not as an outsider passing through, but as someone embedded in their daily lives. This approach allowed the film to capture more than interviews—it captured real moments, real work, and real culture that has long been overlooked in mainstream American history.
Now, more than a decade after the first footage was shot, The Black Cowboy Documentary, featuring Art T. Burton, is finally hitting the road.
The film is launching a grassroots U.S. tour, traveling from New York to Los Angeles, Chicago to Houston, Miami, and beyond. The goal isn’t just big cities—it’s smaller towns, rural communities, and places where this history lived but was rarely acknowledged.
This tour is about access, conversation, and community. But it can’t happen alone.
We’re calling on community organizers, venues, schools, cultural centers, and local leaders to become hosts and help bring this vital piece of American history to their communities. Hosting a screening means creating space for dialogue, education, and recognition of a legacy that has always been part of the American West.
The Black Cowboy isn’t just a documentary—it’s a decade of lived experience, resilience, and truth finally being shared.
If you believe this history matters, join us on the road.
Become a Host
“Looking back, being determined and passionate, I decided to live where I wanted to document,” Perry reflects. “That’s what set this film apart.”
In 2015, Perry reached out to Art T. Burton, a respected historian and author of four books on the Black history of the American West. That conversation became a partnership and helped shape the heart of The Black Cowboy. Burton’s research and storytelling provided historical grounding, while Perry’s lens brought those stories to life on screen.
