12 Classic Black Westerns.

1. “Sergeant Rutledge” (1960)
In his late 60s and nearing the end of a long, illustrious career, Western auteur John Ford explored a more humanist side to himself as an artist. The result were a few films in which he seemed to be making up for his earlier, distorted portrayals of people of color, maybe most exemplified in “Sergeant Rutledge.”
2. “Buck and the Preacher” (1972)
In addition to being Sidney Poitier’s first directing credit, this Western version of the story of Moses leading the Israelites to the Promised Land marked the first time a Black man directed a Western for a major Hollywood studio.
3. “Man and Boy” (1972)
Bill Cosby’s first big screen role gave audiences a Bill Cosby that it rarely got to see, far from his comedic television persona audiences would come to know and love (prior to recent widespread awareness of sexual assault charges that have tainted his legacy).
4. “Thomasine & Bushrod” (1974)
Gordon Parks Jr. directed this Western romance with a twist, a fresh take on the genre that was written and produced by star Max Julien. Vonetta McGee co-stars as the female bounty hunter Thomasine, who resumes an old romance with outlaw Bushrod (Julien).
5. “Take a Hard Ride” (1975)
After his cattle rancher employee dies, cowboy Pike (Jim Brown) is given the job of returning $86,000 to some families who live across the border in Mexico. Honest Pike is joined on the perilous journey through the wilderness by untrustworthy gambler Tyree (Fred Williamson) and the two team up to defend themselves against outlaws, gunmen, a bounty hunter, and a corrupt sheriff, all whom want to get their hands on the money. The pair is later joined by a mute Native American scout (Jim Kelly). This Spaghetti Western was the second of three films the trio would make together, after “Three the Hard Way” (1974) and followed by “One Down, Two to Go” (1982).
6. “Posse” (1993)
Mario Van Peeples’ “Posse” landed somewhat like Spike Lee’s “Miracle at St. Anna” - a film audiences had been begging for to serve as an answer to all the previous titles that failed to address the blatant erasure of Black people from historical record. There’s plenty of action in this off-beat Western that features a group of mostly Black infantrymen who return from the Spanish-American War with gold. The men travel to the West, where their vengeful leader (Van Peebles) seeks his father’s lynchers.
7. “Boss N*gger” (1975)
“Boss N*gger,” aka “The Black Bounty Hunter” and “The Black Bounty Killer,” stars blaxploitation hero Fred Williamson in a film about two Black bounty hunters who track an outlaw into a small town without a sheriff, and decide to take over the job themselves against the wishes of the locals. As Williamson and co-star D’Urville Martin work to get their man, they cause all kinds of havoc for the townsfolk. This marked Williamson’s first film as a producer, and it would launch a stretch of westerns in which he starred alongside actors like Lee Van Cleef and longtime pals Jim Brown and Jim Kelly.
8. “Harlem on the Prairie” (1937)
Considered the first Western musical with an all-Black cast, “Harlem on the Prairie” was Black western star Herb Jeffries’ first film. Released in 1937, it was followed by a series of more westerns starring Jeffries, whose racial and ethnic lineage complicated how he identified himself during his career.
9. “Buffalo Soldiers” (1997)
Inexplicably one of a few accounts of the post-Civil War Black cavalry troops known as the Buffalo Soldiers made over the last 50 years, this made-for-television 1997 drama followed the trials and triumphs of a tight-knit Buffalo troop led by ex-slave Sgt. Wyatt (Danny Glover) in the New Mexico area. Of course, as was the case in real life, they faced unrelenting bigotry from every direction. There are several well-set-up battle sequences scenes, including those with Native Americans.
10. “Concrete Cowboy” (2021)
Chronicling the tenuous relationship between father (Idris Elba) and son (Caleb McLaughlin), “Concrete Cowboy” captures the mostly unknown, fascinating real-life Black cowboy culture in the Philadelphia area.
11. “Black Rodeo” (1972)
The only documentary in the group, this 1972 feature chronicling the rodeo held at the Triborough Stadium on NYC’s Randall’s Island includes appearances from heavyweight champ Muhammad Ali and actor Woody Strode. It was the city’s first-ever Black rodeo, and the rarely seen doc provides a vivid firsthand look at what was a singular cultural moment.
12. “Joshua” (1976)
A year after “Boss N*gger,” Fred Williamson starred in “Joshua” as a Black soldier just after the Civil War, who becomes a bounty hunter after his mother is murdered by a gang of white thugs. His journey makes up the bulk of a spaghetti Western/quasi-blaxploitation movie that borrows equally from Sergio Corbucci’s “Django” and Sergio Leone’s “Man With No Name” trilogy.

[@momzdavis5812]

Wonderful ❤💐 But dont 4 git "" BUCK & THE PREACHER"" with Sidney Portier....Harry Belefonte....& Mrs Ruby Dee. One of the BEST Blk Westerns Ever😁💝

[@m3minez305]

🔥

[@SwoopLikeMe]

Great video. Well put together.
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[@SlufootSlimm317CVL]

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