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Tulsa cowboy William Whayne, better known by his kinfolk as “Humpty”, says this moment is something he’s prepared for his whole life. The Black cowboy recently qualified for The American Rodeo after winning on the Guts and Glory television show. He now has the chance to win over $2 million in a steer-roping competition.

In a recent interview with KTUL, Whayne said, “There’s not very many things you can do in this world to win $2.1 million and to have the opportunity to rope for $2.1 million, it’s just a blessing.”

‘Humpty’ may make history.

When real stories and old-timey fables of American cowboys are told, it’s rare that the name of a Black cowboy is mentioned. Even though tales of Bass Reeves are the stuff of legend, his name often rings hollow in comparison to cowboys regularly featured in Hollywood depictions of cowboys and steer wranglers. Yet Humpty looks to change that.

With history on the horizon, Whayne’s performance could land him in Tulsa’s National Cowboy Museum one day.

Who is dis ‘Cowboy’ up on dat nag?

“The more and more I thought about it, I was like, ‘Man, what else are you doing other than roping every day, so you might as well take a chance at changing your life,’ and so that’s what I did,” said Whayne.

 “I’m gonna tell you, grab life by the horns and let it roll because, if you keep sitting back, you’ll never know what you can accomplish, that’s for sure,” said Whayne.

The landscape of Tulsa is changing with help from a Black cowboy

“There’s not very many opportunities around here for us, so you got to create the opportunity, and I feel like I created this opportunity for myself, and if I was fortunate enough to go win $2.1 million, I’m going to change somebody else’s life,” said Whayne.

Whayne is set to compete at The American Rodeo’s final contenders round Friday night at 7 p.m. and if he wins, will move on to the top 10 round, one step closer to winning the grand prize.

Hailing from Charlotte North Carolina, born litterateur Ezekiel J. Walker earned a B.A. in Psychology at Winston Salem State University. Walker later published his first creative nonfiction book and has...

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