BlackPerspective.net
Discussing the Diaspora as seen through an internal Black lens
Blacks In War Movies Pt 2 - Courage In Full Color
August 27th, 2008
Spike Lee’s Maricle at St. Anna, based on James McBride’s 2002 novel, brings to screen an account of historical fiction surrounding the real all Black World War II 92nd Infantry.
The film boast Actors such as
Michael Ealy
and
Kerri Washington
As well as
Derek Luke, who is pictured front and center in the pic below.
The Film is set to open in late September.
-
Here are some excerpts from the Washington Post’s look at the issue of Black soliders in World War II and the lack of their portrayal in Hollywood:
“But save for a cinematic footnote in 1949, the exploits of black soldiers like Stephenson have been missing in action on the big screen. In movie after movie — “Saving Private Ryan,” “Flags of Our Fathers,” “Letters From Iwo Jima,” “The Thin Red Line,” “From Here to Eternity,” “The Great Escape,” “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” “A Bridge Too Far,” “Midway” — there was hardly a black face upon the screen. By contrast, films inspired by Vietnam — “Apocalypse Now,” “Hamburger Hill” and “Platoon,” to name just three — featured integrated casts.
“You just came not to expect anything like that, films about us,” Stephenson says. …
Blacks are not a part of the visual mythology of World War II,” says Melton McLaurin, professor emeritus of history at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and writer-director of a recent PBS film about the first black Marines who served in the war. “The national imagery begins in the Second World War with figures like John Wayne and Robert Taylor in the movies. Those films dealt with the white man’s role. And that’s the iconography that came out of that period.
Lee’s World War II drama, “Miracle at St. Anna,” opens on the big screen in September following its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier in the month. It is based on James McBride’s 2002 novel of the same name and chronicles the true-life adventures of Stephenson’s 92nd Infantry….
In time, black war heroes emerged. One of the first was Dorie Miller, a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia during the attack at Pearl Harbor. Miller, who was forbidden to operate weapons, grabbed hold of an antiaircraft gun and brought down two Japanese planes.
“He was actually the first hero of World War II,” says Gail Buckley, author of “American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military From the Revolution to Desert Storm.” “The military did not release his name to the public until March of 1942. They had looked for a white hero. There was outrage from the black press.” Miller became the first black man to win the Navy Cross.”
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Yobachi Boswell is creator and publisher of BlackPerspecitve.net. I’m a writer, activist and political watcher based in Nashville, Tennessee. I’ve also been know to do some spoken word and MCing in my day.
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