Matthew McElroy ’s Reviews > Harlem's Hell Fighters: The African American 369th Infantry in World War I > Status Update

William Butler, among other soldiers, will receive the Croix de Guerre. In fact, many of these African-Americans will receive awards from the French.
Lots of honors from the French.

From the French.😑

The New York 15th lands in France. They start off as manual laborers, definitively NOT why the VOLUNTEERED to join the army.
But things are heating up. Most of us of a certain age have heard the story of Alvin York. And for some reason 🙄 we have never heard of the heroics of Henry Johnson and Needham Roberts.
Of all the stories Black people have told, our service to the country has been often overlooked.

Thank goodness for James Weldon Johnson. His writing more than 100 years ago holds up perfectly today. (Paraphrasing from the direct quote, if that is a thing)
"The writer has held that the Negro must perform all duties of citizenship. [This] does not mean he should be led by silly sentimentality. It does not mean that he should forget causes for complaint."

The author, Stephen Harris clearly did some research to tell this story. There are times when his use of quotes veers from the informative into the over-reliant.
Perhaps this story is so under-told, that getting the information into the public is more important.

The first person to enlist in the Negro National Guard of New York was examined and admitted by the grandson of Robert E. Lee.
(To their credit, they have been pretty unequivocal about denouncing their treasonous ancestor.)
The 1910s equivalent of LeBron James and Jamie Foxx are enlisting in this unit, if you are wondering if this is a big deal.

I thought I had a good grasp on the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
But Adam Clayton Powell just showed up to lobby on behalf of the Black National Guard in 1916.
Is there a senior- junior situation?
Was he older than I realized in the 50s?
I didn't realize he was a contemporary of W.E.B
DuBois.
To be continued.