GOSSIP FROM THE GIRLFRIEND GATHERINGS

Learning from YOU to empower ME !

Girlfriends on the Road – Meeting A Legend

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Woman with travel cases.Last weekend, I volunteered at and attended the 7th Annual Austin African-American Book Festival at the Carver Library and Museum in Austin, Texas. At this event I had the opportunity and great pleasure to meet/greet one of my all-time favorite authors – Terry McMillan. I also discovered two new authors – Anita Richmond Bunkley (“A Thousand Steps”) and Dr. Michael Collins (“Understanding Ethridge Knight”) – who were also guest authors at the festival.
During the opening of the festival, each participating local author gave a brief introduction about their work to the audience. The two authors that really impressed me were Kaneisha Grayson (“Be Your Own Boyfriend”) and Sherry Ransom (“Three Paths, Three Choices” and “The Art of Growing Older Gratefully”). Ms. McMillan was the opening keynote speaker in which she frankly imparted her words of wisdom and support about the writing life to the local authors at the festival.
After the opening event, each guest author gave a speech, read excerpts from their latest book, and answered questions from the audience. Ms. McMillan read excerpts from her upcoming book “Who Asked You?” which will debut in September 2013. Listening to her read from her work was very exciting and it was amazing to see her characters come to life in that reading. I fell in love with them and I am sure others in the audience did, too. As usual, with her words she evoked emotions from all of us with her mesmerizing story. I have already pre-ordered my Kindle version of her new book. There were many aspiring authors in the audience (like me!) and she encouraged us to pursue our art.
After she spoke, a book signing was held in the grand foyer of the library. Ms. McMillan was very gracious and accommodating to all of her fans in attendance with book signings/photos. She has a great sense of humor and made us all laugh when she talked about her discovery of one of our treasures here in Texas — TexMex food!
It is a good feeling to meet someone you admire and find they are just as you imagined.

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Terry McMillan and Me
QUESTION:
Have you read any of Terry McMillan’s books? If so, which was your favorite?
Have you ready any of Anita Bunkley’s books? If so, which ones?
Have you ever met someone you admired? If so, who? Please share your experience.

It’s Rodeo Time! Yee-Hah!

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If you are anywhere near Houston, Texas you will know that the cowboys and cowgirls have blazed in from their trail ride and it is RODEO time!   There will be three weeks of rodeo contests, world-class concerts, barbecue cook offs and rides on a Texas-sized Ferris wheel at the Rodeo Carnival.  For eighty years, we Houstonians have enjoyed what has become one of the largest rodeos in the world – Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.  Visit http://www.hlsr.com and check it out.

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Another important rodeo venue during the same period is the Black Professional Cowboys and Cowgirls Association’s Heritage Day Rodeo which benefits high school students with scholarships to attend a four-year accredited college.    The BPCCA strive to present and preserve the image of the African-American cowboy and cowgirl who participated fully in settling the American West.   Please visit  http://www.bpcca.com to learn more about this organization.

Due to media depiction and partial teaching of American history in our schools, it is a little known fact that one-third of the American cowboys were African-American, one-third were Latin-American and one-third were Anglo-American.   However, on the trail they were all the same as they worked together to face life and death perils to drive the cattle across the West to market.   It was one of the first places in our history were racial barriers were willingly torn down.

This year was the first time that I attended the BPCCA rodeo even though this is their 14th year for this annual event.  It was really inspiring to see so many African-American families there to support the rodeo.   There were the familiar contests – steer wrestling, bull-riding, barrel racing – but there was one event that required unique bravery from the cowgirls.   This event is unique to African-American rodeos and is called “Steer Un-decorating”.   The cowgirls ride and chase a steer to remove the ribbon tied around it.   Watching those cowgirls made me feel very inadequate as a native Texan because I don’t even own a pair of cowgirl boots!

Even though the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo offers a “Black Heritage Day” as a part of their venue, I hope that more persons discover the Black Professional Cowboys and Cowgirls Association’s Heritage Day Rodeo and will consider attending next year during our rodeo season.   It is a great event.

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