Presentation:

Horse-racing is a much-loved sport in Oaxaca. The horses are gorgeous and fast! The betting can be hot or hidden. The crowd includes “kings” and scoundrels, kids and grannies. It’s always a spectator’s delight. I’ll illustrate the races with some of my many hundreds of photos taken 2011-2019. And not just horse racing. You’ll also learn about Las Charrerías and Bull riding! These daring, beloved Mexican sports are practiced widely in Oaxaca. Charrería is the national sport of Mexico, and the grand, statewide competition is coming to Oaxaca March 22-23. Charros are modern-day equestrians who practice the long-ago skills of the vaqueros, or cowboys, who worked on the haciendas of Mexico. Horse racing is often part of a village’s saint’s week celebration, and you can also watch races at five local racetracks. Bull riding draws thousands to Tule’s enormous facility during the annual fiesta in honor of the Virgin of the Candelaria, this year celebrated on February 9. Some villages also hold bull riding competitions as part of a saint’s week celebration. Several years ago a busload of Mexican-American teenagers came to Tule from Los Angeles to participate.

Speaker:

Cynthia Roderick's career in journalism extends from working as a news photographer with the Black Star Agency in New York City and with numerous newspapers and magazines in New England; to a reporter with the now-defunct Times-Journal News agency in Washington, D.C.; to reporter/editor/photographer with the U.S Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C. She earned an MS in Journalism from Boston University and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.