The Monkeypaw Productions executive producer discusses ‘High Horse: The Black Cowboy’ and why this three-part docuseries rewrites American history
Keisha Senter holds a unique position in Hollywood as the Senior Vice President of Culture and Impact at Monkeypaw Productions, the production company founded by Jordan Peele. Her role extends beyond traditional film production, focusing on deepening audience engagement through partnerships, digital content, and cultural storytelling.
MonkeyPaw’s latest project, High Horse: The Black Cowboy, a three-part documentary premiering on Peacock, explores the largely untold heritage of Black cowboys and their contributions to American culture. The series features interviews with Rick Ross, Bun B, Tina Knowles, Glynn Turman, Pam Grier, and the Compton Cowboys, with an original score by Raphael Saadiq.
Senter took some time to discuss the project with rolling out publisher and CEO Munson Steed.
I am the Senior Vice President of Culture and Impact at Monkeypaw Productions, and I think I have the pleasure of being at the only production company I know that has that division. If you’re a fan of Jordan Peele’s films and our content, we really try our best to have our finger on the pulse of culture and what’s happening in society. We’re a horror company, but we also really believe in being socially aware and socially conscious with the stories that we tell. My department builds into our content and looks at how we deepen our engagement with our audience and culture across partnerships, whether it’s a podcast that deepens the story we’re telling, fashion lines, or projects like this documentary.
In Jordan’s Nope, the Haywood family were descendants of the Black man on the horse in the Muybridge photographs. We all saw that in there, but through his story, we started really looking at how we knew who the horse was, but we didn’t know who that Black man on that horse was. So we decided to pull at that thread and start really looking at Black people and their connection to the equine and to the Black cowboy.
I think it’s our responsibility to tell our stories. So much of what people are going to learn in this three-part docuseries are things that you didn’t learn in school. You weren’t taught about the word cowboy. The word cowboy was two words, and it actually was the young enslaved individual that tended to the land and tended to the cattle. So the thing that we hold as precious as American pie, what it means to be American, a cowboy, its origins was a Black enslaved man.
In Episode 2, which focuses on land, we’re digging into eminent domain, exodusters, and manifest destiny. We’re talking about how Black people have had a struggle and lost their land over time in this country, and they’re still facing that today. Then, truly looking at the origins of music, the banjo is something that’s so precious to country music, right? And the banjo was brought over throughout the transatlantic slave trade. It’s an African instrument. We aren’t taught these things, so I feel like it’s our responsibility as storytellers and holders of our history to make sure that these stories don’t go untold.
I’m from Kentucky, and I was never taught that the first 13 winners of the Kentucky Derby were Black men, Black jockeys. I had to learn that as an adult, and so I’m just hopeful that this sparks the excitement to dig in deeper and to learn our history more and to tell our stories.
My first is watching in community. This is the intent when we started this journey three years ago, that it would be multigenerational. I want my mother to watch with me and then to watch with my nephew, so that you’re learning together. You can watch over Thanksgiving with your family and friends.
The second thing is I want us to watch with pride. Sometimes these stories are hard to hear. When you meet these families and our cowboys that are still truly fighting, one of our cowboys, C.W. Mallory and Nicole Mallory, they recently just had another incident with law enforcement. She told me, “We’re tired of this fight.” But what they go through, and to hear how much they’re fighting, they’re still so prideful. We’re talking about what happened in Tulsa, what happened in Boley, Okla., but we’re watching with pride because of who we are, how we overcome, and how we can continue to stand on the shoulders of others who refuse to quit fighting. The Bill Pickett Rodeo is about 42 years old, the longest traveling rodeo in the country, and it’s a place where Black rodeo athletes win and excel.
The third thing is we’ve had this thing where we learn, unlearn, and relearn. Now it’s time for us to relearn who we are and what our history is. Let’s learn it new and then continue to share. Bring someone else into it. Share it with young people. Press share, click on social media so more people will watch it, because I do think that is our responsibility as a community and as a culture.
Monkeypaw is truly a special place, and what Jordan has built since Get Out has really changed the conversation and the narrative on what horror looks like and how Black people and creators of color enter the genre space. What I’m so proud about is that positioning and that intentionality happens behind the camera and in front of the camera. We’re just really intentional about how we’re telling the story, who’s telling the story, and what we want people to look like when they’re watching our films and connecting to our films.
One of the things that I love about Get Out, even though I work at Monkeypaw, is that it sparks conversation and dialogue. Horror is a genre that is fun, and horror fans are committed. They’re serious. There’s rules to horror and genre, and horror fans know that, but they’re also smart and elevated. That’s who our fans are, and that’s who Black audiences are. We’re smart, we’re elevated, we’re curious. The beauty of working at this company is that we create content that helps people to think, that sparks conversation. You walk away and you’re talking about it. You’ve got to go back and watch it. You’re unpacking it, you’re thinking about it, and that’s sticky. We really try to entertain, and we do it through a lens of having fun, but then fun can also be extremely smart and thought-provoking.
The people you’re going to meet truly have an authentic connection. We didn’t get celebrities just for the sake of celebrities. Rick Ross owns the most land in Georgia. His land, the Promised Land, touches four counties. He has horses on that land. His connection to it is extremely deep. Bun B is from Houston and is truly Southern rap, and he hosts the Black night at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Every night, he’s bringing out performers, and a lot of people got their start at the rodeo. You hear Beyoncé and Solange and Destiny’s Child talk about when they were performing at the rodeo.
Ms. Tina Knowles was a pleasure to have sit down and talk to us about her daughters. She said at one time, they were too country when they first started, and now Beyoncé wasn’t country enough. Mr. Glynn Turman is truly an icon, and we are just lucky to have him, but he is a cowboy first. Although he’s from Harlem, he started learning how to ride horses in Central Park, and he is the grand marshal for the last 20 years of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.
The Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo has been around for 40 years, and the two women, Ms. Valeria Cunningham and Ms. Lu Vason, have created something absolutely fantastic. I’ve met some true real cowboys from Oklahoma to Texas, and a Texas cowboy is different than an Oklahoma cowboy. Then we take you to the Compton Cowboys and Randy Savvy. Pam Grier is in this, and we were on her ranch and her farm.
Blanco Brown is featured, and I would be remiss if I didn’t say that we had the legendary Raphael Saadiq to be our composer and music supervisor. He grew up rodeoing in Oakland. He’s a longtime horse owner, and all of this came from having this conversation because the cowboys started with us. Once you start having these conversations, you realize how connected we are to this culture because it started with who we are. Lori Harvey is also in this as well, she’s an award-winning equestrian.
High Horse: The Black Cowboy is now streaming on Peacock. The three-part documentary series is directed by Jason Perez and executive produced by Jordan Peele, Win Rosenfeld, Keisha Senter, and Jamal Watson from Monkeypaw Productions, along with Mari Keiko Gonzalez, Liz Yale Marsh, Kadine Anckle, Tom Casciato, Sacha Jenkins and Keith McQuirter.
