Breath of Freedom

Posted in Europe, History, Media Archive, Mississippi, United States, Videos on 2014-02-15 21:24Z by Steven

Breath of Freedom

The Smithsonian Channel
Premieres Monday, 2014-02-17 20:00 EST

Narrated by Cuba Gooding Jr.

They fought to liberate Germany from Nazi rule, as racism reached unfathomable levels. Their fight would continue back home on American soil. This is the story of the one-million-plus African Americans who fought in World War II. Discover their encounters with hatred, from the enemy and from within their own ranks. Explore this paradoxical chapter in American history through interviews with war heroes, including Colin Powell, Tuskegee ace pilot Roscoe Brown, and Charles Evers, brother of Civil Rights activist and WWII veteran Medgar Evers. [The documentary also features Theodor Michael, author of Deutsch sein und schwarz dazu: Erinnerungen eines Afro-Deutschen [Being German and also Being Black: Memoirs of an Afro-German].]

Watch the exclusive premiere here.

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For me as a young lieutenant, who couldn’t go off the post in Columbus, Georgia, could go off the post anywhere in Germany. It was a breath of freedom.

Posted in Excerpts/Quotes on 2014-02-11 17:35Z by Steven

“When I first went to Germany in January, 1959, I just finished my training in Columbus, Georgia, at Fort Benning. In Columbus, Georgia it was still segregated. There was discrimination. There was racism. For me as a young lieutenant, who couldn’t go off the post in Columbus, Georgia, could go off the post anywhere in Germany. It was a breath of freedom.”

—Colin Powell, 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and former United States Secretary of State

“Breath of Freedom,” The Smithsonian Channel, 2014. http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/sc/web/show/3402153/breath-of-freedom. (00:02:58-00:02:24).

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