This was the second of the four lectures that I'll be attending this month in honour of Black History Month. This lecture was being held at the African American Military History Museum downtown, which is located in the former African American WWII USO. My sister didn't have work, so she could attend this one with me. Before we start on the lecture, some pre-cursory things. A mutual friend of ours (whom we know through another friend) works at this museum. She was rather excited to see us. She likes us just fine, but I think it's usually only comprised of members of the board and perhaps a few smattering of people, so she was excited more people turned up, which if that is true then it's rather sad that more people aren't coming out for these events. Also, this was my sisters first time at the museum. My dad and I went when it first opened, but she'd never been, so since we had a little time before the start of the lecture, we went through it. It's very small, but it's really well done. This former USO was the segregated for blacks only and built in, I believe 1942. It was saved from demolition, restored, and kitted out with a very appropriate armed forces museum of African Americans. According to the lecturer, people in other places don't have this. Black USO's weren't refurbished like white one's, most falling down or being demolished, and certainly there are no African American military museums in any that are still around. He was really impressed. So, my sister and I are about to tour the museum portion of the building and the local news is going to interview someone, and I assume it is the lecturer, because otherwise our local news wouldn't care that much. They were talking about getting all sorts of video shots in. We all sit down and a lady is at the podium to talk about how the lecture came about and the usual things of introducing the guest speaker, well a man sits next to me in the only chair available on our row. I can't turn and stare at him, but I'm pretty sure that he's the lecturer. And when she calls his name to welcome him up, it was him! I'm not ashamed to say that i geeked out a little. THE lecturer... from THE Smithsonian had been sitting right next to me!!! I was pretty thrilled. So the lady, in her introduction, had listed about a million things about the lecturer, Dr. Krewasky Salter. There was so much that all I could do was sit there and by the time she finished my sister and I exchanged hushed "Wooooows". It felt like it took her five minutes to list all of his accomplishments. I don't know anyone who has nearly that many accomplishments under their belt. High points (well, all I could remember) included that he had served in the Army, making the rank of Captain and had taught at West Point. Oh! She also mentioned that there was a football star in our small audience. I don't remember his name, though people there seemed to be familiar with him. He was probably popular during the seventies given his age. I'm not into football and it wasn't until after the lecture that I thought, "Man, I should have written down his name". I'm pretty slow on the uptake most times. We're on the back row and there's probably five people, sitting, who are not in this picture (including the aged football star). There were other museum workers hover in the back, who stood the entire time. Also 3/4th of the people in this room are members of the museum or of the museum board. Only three of the people in this photo were non museum associated guests. So yes, the lecturer was Dr. Krewasky Salter who is currently the military subject matter expert for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and he co-curated the military section exhibit entitled; "Double Victory: African Americans in the Military." He prefaced it all by stating that there is a committee that decides the theme for Black History Month every year. This years them was African Americans in the Military (ah-ha! I was wondering why it was all militerized.) and they send out an official transcript of the talking points, which organizations can choose from. They can choose one, all, or combinations of the points listed, but they must stick to the theme and choose from the sheet. He also used the word "Cool"... a lot, which was adorable given his age (fifties?) and that he was a former Colonel in the Army and was now had a Ph.D. and worked for the Smithsonian. He centered his lecture around the museum and the exhibit which I thought was a nice idea for a lecture. A simple and basic rundown of the entire museum itself and the layout of the military section with some information on museum prep and historical information. I've been wanting to go to this museum (and the one for Indigenous Americans) since it opened and it was nice to have an overview before hand. There are 12 different galleries on 8 levels in the museum with only half of them at street level and above. There are three history levels in the basement; Slavery and Freedom 1400 - 1877; Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation 1876 - 1968; and A Changing American 1968 & Beyond. However, the military section is on the third level above ground. L3 (Level 3) or simply the 3rd floor. The military section covers everything from King Williams War in 1685 until the present. Which I found fascinating because I don't know much about American colonial wars prior to The French and Indian war in the 1750s. I knew that slaves were fighting in that war and the Revolutionary war, but I didn't know about previous wars, so now I'm excited to see that in this museum and I want to research some on my own. He did show us a few videos that he'd made and a layout of the actual exhibit (instead of just where the gallery is situated on this level), with some interesting museum work information. Part of that A is the entrance wall to show that you are entering into a new gallery. An intro panel like this can only contain 75 words. They chose to list the wars that African Americans have fought in. They couldn't put them all, but they put the very first (King Williams War), the most recent (The War on Terror), and highlight points in between like the Revolutionary War, The Civil War, among lesser known wars/battles as well as ones in which people do not realize that African Americans were present; like D-Day.
Next are the display cases with an intro block of text describing what you'll see in this section and ending with a block of text at the end of the case to sum it all up; each being 75 words. In between are the recreated photo's which are enlarged for museum goers, an artifacts; with each of these points getting only 25 words of description. This is the set design for museums across the board, to intrigue visitors, give them information, but not overdo it and thereby boring them. He started his talk with The Civil War. Without African Americans, enslaved and freed, serving in that war, there wouldn't have been additions of Amendments 13th - 15th, and that the Army Reorganization Act of 1866 officially allowed black men to serve in the military not only during times of war and it also established The Buffalo Soldiers. Then he focused a lot on The Great War (WWI) because this is the Centennial year of it's ending, so people are supposed to talk about it more, but I think that's good because most of the time it gets glanced over so people can talk more about The Civil War and about WWII. 4 million Americans served in The Great War (I call it this because my maternal grandfather served in WWI and my maternal grandmother was alive during it. They called it The Great War as all did who lived through it prior to WWII being a thing. It's what we always heard growing up, so it's what I always call it). 400,000 of them were African Americans and 200,000 of those African Americans served overseas. Half of them were combat divisions. Most were regulated to SOS Units meaning they're the backbones that built roads and dug trenches and any other manual labour. After The Civil War, the military was pretty much desegregated, however, in 1913 President Woodrow Wilson resegregated the government, which included the military. He also held a film showing of the film Birth of a Nation at the White House in 1915. In 1917, nineteen African American troops were courtmartialed and executed without due process. Black men, because of President Wilsons actions, Joined and fought in The Great War to change all of this. After the war, in 1919, an even called Red Summer occurred. 3 dozen riots happened across the states in order to try and put blacks back in their "proper" places. But, they weren't having it. It only made them more determined to be accepted into the nation they helped fight to protect. The Harlem Renaissance, Jazz music, and activism all stem from these events. Red Summer, The Great War, and President Wilson. It was the beginning of The Civil Rights movement. The term "Double Victory" was coined in 1942 and represented a double victory for African Americans; a victory at winning the war, and victories on the home front. But this was not the first time that this was felt. At least since The Civil War double victory has been felt by African American troops. There is a victory in war, and then no victory at home because upon returning from the battlefront, there were still battles to wage in equality, which then, little by little were won. One would think that African Americans would cease to want to fight in these wars, considering that they fight a war for their countries, but aren't really included in their countries so to speak. However, they did keep fighting in American wars because they are Americans, and continued to fight for equality at home. There was no sense of giving up or shying away. It's sort of the same why Indigenous People's fight in American wars. One would think that with their treatment by the government that they wouldn't. But they are warriors and this is their country first and foremost. They'll continue to fight, the tribes that do, because it's in their blood to be warriors and they will still fight to protect their homes, even if white people have conveniently forgotten it is their home. This is a huge thing within the Pow-Wow culture. The very first thing to kick off the event is The Grand Entry, where people walk in with flags; the US flag, Tribal flags, the POW (prisoners of war) flag, and Eagle Staffs representing the various tribal nations that are present during the Pow-Wow. It's a long procession including all of the dancers too, but between the flags and the dancers are veterans. During the Pow-Wow they'll even invite veterans (any nationality of any war) to join inside the circle. They're serious about veterans and wars fought with or for this country of theirs. They are always honoured. So, Double Victory is the African Americans fighting in wars of the country where they live, because they live here too, and fighting home battles of equality and justice because they were not welcomed back like white soldiers, but victories would follow in rights gained. There was no GI Bill after The Great War, so with veterans demanding it, the government initiated it with WWII. People (white people, I'm assuming) also did not believe that black troops were there and present and fighting on D-Day, which is why they made sure to include that on the intro wall as well as inside the exhibit itself. Though most of the units were transport and labour, there were combat troops and they were most certainly present at D-Day as well as other famous battles during WWII whether in the European, Pacific, or African Theatres. And without those transport and labour units, General Patton could not have made it across Europe as easily as he did. He, and we owe all of that to the African American men who were set to that task. Lastly, 89 African American men have received the Congressional Medal of Honour. All 89 are hanging in The Medal of Honour Hall with a brief description of the men who earned it, in which war, and why.
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AuthorA girl from South Mississippi who finds herself in exploration. Archives
November 2019
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