Thursday, August 26, 2010

Men of Color to Arms!: Black Soldiers, Indian Wars, and the Quest for Equality

By Elizabeth D. Leonard

In 1863, Frederick Douglass promised African Americans that serving in the military offered a sure path to full citizenship. More than 180,000 heeded the call to defend the Union against the Confederate rebellion. Later, thousands more enlisted to subdue the Indians and expand and strengthen the national domain. In this sharply drawn history, Elizabeth D. Leonard takes the story of these frequently overlooked American soldiers beyond traditional political and military confines to consider the men's aspirations and achievements as well as their setbacks and disappointments. Framed by Appomattox in 1865 and the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, and packed with individuals' stories, details of battles fought, and descriptions of army life, Leonard's work examines black soldiers' contributions to the nation's post-Civil War expansion and consolidation and sheds important light on the myriad obstacles the buffalo soldiers faced in their ongoing struggle for racial equality.

Check Catalog

1 comment:

  1. Keep telling that history:

    Read the novel, Rescue at Pine Ridge, "RaPR", where Buffalo Bill Cody meets a Buffalo Soldier. A great story of black military history...the first generation of Buffalo Soldiers. Five stars Amazon, Barnes & Noble and the youtube trailer commercial...and visit the website http://www.rescueatpineridge.com

    How do you keep a people down? ‘Never' let them 'know' their history.

    The 7th Cavalry got their butts in a sling again after the Little Big Horn Massacre, fourteen years later, the day after the Wounded Knee Massacre. If it wasn't for the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, there would of been a second massacre of the 7th Cavalry.

    I know you’ll enjoy the novel. I wrote the story that embodied the Native Americans, Outlaws and African-American/Black soldiers, from the south to the north, in the days of the Native American Wars with the approaching United States of America. This story is about, brutality, compassion, reprisal, bravery, heroism and gallantry. The story shows the truism to the fullest of a PG-14 perspective...with a DVD release to show the fullest reality of war. Read the novel, Rescue at Pine Ridge, the story of the rescue of the famed 7th Cavalry by the 9th Cavalry Buffalo Soldiers.

    Also the novel was taken from my mini-series movie of the same title, “RaPR” to keep my story alive. Hollywood has had a lot of strikes and doesn’t like telling our stories…its been “his-story” of history all along…until now. The movie so far has attached, Bill Duke directing, Hill Harper, Glynn Turman and a host of other major actors in which we are in talks with…see imdb.com at; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0925633/

    When you get a chance, also please visit our Alpha Wolf Production website at; http://www.alphawolfprods.com and see our other productions, like Stagecoach Mary, the first Black Woman to deliver mail for Wells Fargo in Montana, in the 1890's, “spread the word”.

    Peace.

    ReplyDelete