I remember being a small girl and going to the movies with my older cousins. The theater was a small and segregated, however it was crowded. The movie started and kids started to cheer. As I looked up at the screen I noticed something I had never seen before. The movie was a western and it had an all Black cast. The star was this tall handsome mild mannered cowboy named, Bob Blake, I was in love. I sat there and watched spellbound. When cowboy Bob Blake sang, "I'm A Happy Cowboy" it was as if he was singing a love song only for me.
The game of cowboy and indians was played very differently in my neighborhood after that, I was Cowgirl, Betty Blake, I was leader of the posse, or even the sheriff. If you wanted to play with me, you had to play by my rules. It was definately a new sheriff in town.
Herb Jeffries had empowered me. Because of seeing his movie I knew that even though I was a little girl I could be a cow-person.
To my delight, while I was at the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, who walks into the VIP Room, none other than my hero. It was Bob Blake,"The Bronze Buckaroo". Seeing Herb Jeffries in person, I became that kid again. I walked right up introduced myself and he hugged me and said he was pleased to meet me. He was so gracious and shared the story of how his movies had come to be made. We took pictures, he was very generous with the time we shared. I thanked him for the freedom he had given me to dream.
I still cannot believe how lucky I was to meet a real hero. Meeting Herb Jeffries was like meeting "Superman" or some other super hero. Time has treated this wonderful young man very kind, at 83 years young he looked wonderful.
by Tallulah Dancier
