Boots and Blues tent brings Black and Creole culture to the heart of Rodeo Houston’s BBQ Cookoff

At the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest, thousands of people pack into tents for smoked meat, music and a good time. But for nearly 20 years, one tent has doubled as something more: a deliberate space for Black and Creole culture at one of the world’s biggest barbecue stages.