For Love Of Liberty: The Story Of America’s Black Patriots

[one...two...tree 2,762]

(PBS has been re-airing the film. It's an excellent film for anyone interested)

To illuminate the largely untold experiences of African Americans in the United States' armed forces, this special serves up history, from as far back as the Revolutionary War to the conflict in Afghanistan. Ten years in the making, the mini-series examines why, despite enormous injustice, black men and women fought for freedoms they did not enjoy.

Introduced by General Colin Powell and hosted by Academy Award-winning actor Halle Berry, the film uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document the sacrifices made by African-American military personnel. It also includes readings by a wide variety of actors, such as Morgan Freeman, Bill Cosby, Susan Sarandon, Lou Gossett Jr., John Travolta, Ossie Davis, John Goodman, Danny Glover, Sam Elliot and Delroy Lindo, among others.

http://www.kpbs.org/...ricas-black-pa/

[alienlovechild 75]

To illuminate the largely untold experiences of African Americans in the United States' armed forces, serves up history, from as far back as the Revolutionary War to the conflict in Afghanistan. Ten years in the making, the mini-series examines why, despite enormous injustice, black men and women fought for freedoms they did not enjoy.

Not to discount the contributions of blacks in the military then or now but their percentage in the armed forces has largely been dropping off for years.

"Since 2000, black enlistments into the Army have fallen precipitously. The number of black high-quality enlistments fell from 80 per 100,000 individuals in the U.S. population in July 2000 to 32 per 100,000 in July 2005. Although black high-quality enlistments have increased since 2005, they are still well below the 2000 level.

Not only the number but also the percentage of recruits that are black has fallen in the Army. Black representation among high-quality Army recruits fell from 18.9 percent in 2000 to 10.6 percent in 2004, increasing to 11.8 percent in 2007. In contrast, black representation among highquality Navy recruits over the same period has been generally stable."

http://www.asiaing.com/recruiting-minorities-what-explains-recent-trends-in-the-army-and-navy.html