Rory Doyle - Delta Hill Riders
A YEAR ENDING AND NEW YEAR BEGINNING
At Taking Focus, we leave 2019 behind feeling very grateful. And, we look ahead to 2020 with much excitement of what’s to come. We never take for granted the big or small milestones we cross-over because we are aware that every little step is a step in the right direction.
We are grateful for the success of our first Taking Focus Grant. We would like to send a huge thank you to our judge, Mike Davis for taking this first walk with us. We also are eternally grateful to our underwriters who made this grant possible; Charleen and Kenny Sacks. And, lastly to our recipient Rory Doyle. We not only are grateful for his commitment and dedication to fulfilling the requirements of our requests but, for applying for the grant. Rory understood what we were about. He looked at this grant as a way of not only receiving funds to help further pursue his work, but he was also intrigued by the conditions stated in the grant. He wanted to do more for the community that he was documenting, and our grant helped give him the opportunity to start fulfilling that longing.
Rory used his work, Delta Hill Riders to help educate all of us on a part of our history that had gone untalked about. He also had a strong desire to help educate the youth about the black cowboys. He used his giving back component funds to team up with a few wonderful organizations that support enriching the lives of the youth in their communities:
Rosedale Freedom Project organization whose mission is to support the Delta Mississippi young leaders in the development of critical consciousness and practice of justice through community building, exploration, artistic creation, organizing, and the study of social history and grassroots democracy.
Spring Initiative organization whose mission is to empower young people in the Mississippi Delta to beat the odds access the opportunities they deserve and build successful, happy and hopeful lives for themselves.
F-L-Y (Forever Lifting Youth) Zone is a community awareness movement based in Cleveland, Mississippi.
This opportunity lead all of the youth from these different initiatives to attend an event hosted by the Ark-La-Miss Rodeo in Greenville, Mississippi. At this event, they were given the chance to see local cowboys show off their horses, hear about their history, ride the horses, and learn more about Rory’s work, experiences, and reasons for documenting their story.
As we roll into the new year we are excited about what’s to come and the new opportunities that may arise. You never know what is around the corner.
Please continue to check in on us and see where we are ‘taking focus.’
Sincerely,
Jennifer Kaczmarek / Founder & the Taking Focus Team