Where 'Cowboy Up' meets "I have a dream...

Hope you are having an enjoyable Martin Luther King Day and are honoring Dr. King in your own way. Here's the way we're honoring him tonight in Denver: MLK Jr African American Heritage Rodeo of Champions at the National Western Stock Show.

It is produced by Lu Vason, of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo. About BPIR:

The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (BPIR) a Denver based corporation that produces rodeos across the United States.

The BPIR circuit is composed of African American cowboys and cowgirls from across the nation which has acted as a feeder group for both the PRCA and IPRA organizations, with names such as Fred Whitfield, Ronnie Fields, Darnell Tipton, Jesse "slugger" Guillory, Marilyn LeBlanc and Deboraha Akin.

BPIR has also fed the PBR Association with such riders as Gary Richards, Lee Akin and Mike Moore.

The BPIR with a 24-year proven history provides educational, cultural and entertaining events around the country while promoting the heritage of African Americans in the development of the west. The BPIR has also been utilized to generate funds for local charitable organizations.

Events scheduled include: Tie-down Ropin', Bareback Ridin', Bull Ridin' and Ladies Barrel Racing. Good luck to all the contestants! A list of which can be found here.

About famous Bulldogger Bill Pickett:

William (Will, Bill) Pickett was a legendary cowboy from Taylor, Texas of black and Indian descent. He was born December 5, 1870, at the Jenks-Branch community on the Travis County line. He died April 2, 1932, near Ponca City, Oklahoma.

From 1905 to 1931, the Miller brothers' 101 Ranch Wild West Show was one of the great shows in the tradition begun by William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody in 1883. The 101 Ranch Show introduced bulldogging (steer wrestling), an exciting rodeo event invented by Bill Pickett, one of the show's stars.

Riding his horse, Spradley, Pickett came alongside a Longhorn steer, dropped to the steer's head, twisted its head toward the sky, and bit its upper lip to get full control. Cowdogs of the Bulldog breed were known to bite the lips of cattle to subdue them. That's how Pickett's technique got the name "bulldogging." As the event became more popular among rodeo cowboys, the lip biting became increasingly less popular until it disappeared from steer wrestling altogether. Bill Pickett, however, became an immortal rodeo cowboy, and his fame has grown since his death.

(I think Bill Pickett was probably one tough hombre, don't you?)