Soldiers of Freedom

Spanning from the American Revolution to the war in Afghanistan, this long-overdue, comprehensive history covers the full scope of African Americans’ involvement in the armed forces during war and peacetime. Accompanying the informative text are 300 photographs and illustrations, most of them rare, some never before published.

Highlights include accounts of:

– The Rhode Island 1st Regiment, the first all-black regiment in the U.S. Army.

– The New Orleans Battalion of Free Men of Color.

– The Battle for Richmond, which resulted in the largest loss of black life in the Civil War.

– The 1863 New York City Draft Riot.

– The 1919 lynchings of black war vets.

– The Navy’s reluctant integration during World War II.

– The dramatic story of the Tuskegee Airmen.

– The war against terrorism in Afghanistan, and much more.

The book also features portraits of famous and lesser-known soldiers, including Crispus Attucks, Salem Poor, John Brown, Sergeant William Carney, Dorie Miller and Colin Powell. This dramatic visual history is a moving tribute to the essential and often unsung contributions of African-American soldiers through every generation. AUTHORBIO: KAI WRIGHT is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. His work on social and political issues relevant to communities of color around the world has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice and The Progressive, among other publications. He is the author of The African-American Archive: The History of the Black Experience Through documents.