FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY: THE STORY OF AMERICA'S BLACK PATRIOTS is an inspiring, definitive and unprecedented look at the largely untold history of African-American participation in America's armed forces, from the earliest days of the Revolutionary War to the conflict in Afghanistan. Introduced by General Colin Powell and hosted by Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry, the film uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document and acknowledge the profound sacrifices and largely ignored of African-American service men and women.
Civil War-era photograph of two members of the United States Colored Troops (USCT), a regiment of the United States Army and a forerunner of the famous Buffalo Soldiers.For Love of Liberty - Part 1
The first man to die in the cause that would become the American Revolution was black. Crispus Attucks, and others like him, made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that their people would one day enjoy the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Four generations later, most African Americans were still slaves. Yet black men were willing to fight and die to save a nation that wouldn’t even allow them the right to vote.
As the country grew west, Buffalo Soldiers were there to keep the peace and at the Battle of San Juan Hill, Teddy Roosevelt’s Roughriders owed their lives to the men of the 10th Cavalry. In the War to End all Wars, the Harlem Hellfighters spent more time in frontline trenches than any other American unit, yet a white navel officer refused to allow black combat veterans to board his ship. In America, racism was rampant and during World War Two, the United States military was no different.
FOR LOVE OF LIBERTY: THE STORY OF AMERICA'S BLACK PATRIOTS, Monday at 10 p.m. on PBS-HD 6.
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