WW1 Centennial News: Episode #49 - African American Saga in WW1 | Brits capture Palestine | WW1 Air war Docs | 100C/100M Carmel By The Sea | The American in Paris | WWrite | Buzz & more..

Highlights

The African American saga in WW1 @ | 01:30

11th Engineers Cambrai follow up @ | 08:55

Brits capture Jerusalem from Turks - Mike Shuster @ | 09:40

Millionaire’s Unit & Lafayette Escadrille documentary film producer - Darroch Greer @ | 13:55

AmazonSmile for the holidays @ | 21:35

Speaking WW1- Foxhole, Dugout and Cubbyhole @ | 22:35

100C/100M profile - Carmel By The Sea memorial arch - Ian Martin @ | 23:25

The American in Paris documentary - Antony Easton @ | 30:05

Mexican born, illegal immigrant most decorated Texan soldier in WW1 @ | 38:15

WWrite Blog - German songwriter/soldier found from rediscovering his music @ | 39:05

The Buzz - Katherine Akey  @ | 40:20----more----

Opening

Welcome to World War 1 centennial News - It’s about WW1 THEN - what was happening 100 years ago this week  - and it’s about WW1 NOW - news and updates about the centennial and the commemoration.

Before we get going - we’d like to send our thoughts and warm wishes to all the people of southern california who are experiencing the devastation of fires raging through your communities. Our thoughts are with you.

Today is December 6th, 2017. Our guests this week include:

Mike Shuster, updating us on events in the middle east   

Darroch Greer telling us about his films, The Millionaire’s Unit and The Lafayette Escadrille

Ian Martin from the 100 Cities/100 Memorials project in Carmel-by-the-sea California

Antony Easton sharing his experience making the film The American in Paris

And Katherine Akey, the shows line producer and the commission's social media director...

WW1 Centennial News is brought to you by the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum and Library. I’m Theo Mayer - the Chief Technologist for the Commission and your host. Welcome to the show.

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Preface

The African American saga in World War 1 is both inspiring and terrible …

Less than a generation after the civil war, this is a time where black american men and women are considered second class citizens at best.

Chad Williams is the chair of the African & Afro-American Studies Department at Brandeis University and author of

“Torchbearers of Democracy: African-American Soldiers in the

World War I Era,”. quote:

"In many ways, World War I marked the beginning of the modern civil rights movement for African-Americans. Their service in the military had dramatic implications for African-Americans. Black soldiers faced systemic racial discrimination in the army and endured virulent hostility on returning to their homes at the end of the war. At the same time, service in the army empowered soldiers to demand their individual rights as American citizens and laid the groundwork for the future movement for racial justice."

So…  let's jump into our wayback machine and learn more about the African American experience in the war that changed the world!

World War One THEN

100 Year Ago This Week

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It's the first week of December 1917 - Just a note to our audience - that the language of the times, which we have kept in our reports, refers to African Americans as negroes and colored.

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Dateline: December 4, 197

A headline in the New York times reads

ARMY IS FAIR TO NEGROES - Policy of War Department is to discourage race discrimination.

The article reads -

Secretary of War Baker today announced that he had ordered an investigation of the allegation that there had been discrimination against negro Draftees.

Quote: "As you know, it has been my policy to discourage discrimination against any persons by reason of their race. This policy has been adopted not merely as an act of justice to safeguard the institution which we are now enagaged in defending -  and which any racial disorder must endanger.

The charges stem from accusations that the military is not allowing negro units into combat roles, but relegating them to Service Battalions for labor jobs.

And there is a lot of truth to it.

Racism is as endem