A black man who happens to be President of the United States awards Henry Johnson, one of the Harlem Hellfighters of World War One, his long overdue Congressional Medal of Honor.
A black man who happens to be President of the United States of America awards William Shemin, a Jewish Brother, who fought in World War One, his long overdue Congressional Medal of Honor.
Our Jewish brothers and sisters were not at that time considered really "white". The long arc of justice, and the beauty of a President who happens to be not white awarding the United States' highest honor to a black man and a Jew is a damn beautiful thing, and a finger in the face of America's old/new white supremacy.
Please do not misunderstand me. I hate war. War eats the poor, the young, the working classes, and the marginalized while it feeds the belies and coffers of the rich and the powerful. Nevertheless, I am unable and unwilling to resist a smile at honoring two great warriors who demonstrated individual courage and martial prowess in the service of their brothers during World War One.
Again, in my best NPR fundraising voice, this is the fundraising month for WARN and ChaunceyDeVega.com. I strive to do my best to write about and share information of public concern so that you, our friends and readers, can be ahead of the curve.
I have had great guests on the podcast known as The Chauncey DeVega Show.
They include experts on World War One and the Harlem Hellfighters. You can listen to that great conversation here.
I have also chatted with Max Brooks, the smart, interesting, and entertaining author of the book World War Z and the graphic novel The Harlem Hellfighters. That conversation can be listened to here.
I want to thank those of you who have donated to our fundraiser. For those other folks, who have not and are able, we are doing something good and special here. If you can throw some pennies into the collection pile it would be so very much appreciated.
2 comments:
Since we're going NPR, what would a Chauncey DeVega tote bag look like?
My freakishly large head would be on the side and the handles would be my ears!
Good one :)
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