The English Department in partnership with the American Embassy will host the 13th Annual Black History Month under the theme “African Americans in Times of War”. The event, which will also feature the screening of movies will commemorate the centennial of the end of World War I in 1918, and explores the complex meanings and implications of this international struggle and its aftermath.
There will be three film shows as follows –
“The march was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress. During this event, Martin Luther King delivered his memorable ''I Have a Dream'' speech. The 1963 March on Washington had several precedents”.
A semi-fictionalized account of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all-African-American Air Force squadron during World War II, the film centers on ambitious young pilot Hannibal Lee (Laurence Fishburne). Despite initial reticence by higher ranking white officers, Lee, along with Walter Peoples (Allen Payne), Leroy Cappy (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), and others, are deployed into combat. As the successful missions mount, the Tuskegee Airmen develop a reputation as an able, fearsome group of pilots.”
“A black Army investigator (Howard E. Rollins Jr.) travels to a remote military base in the heart of the Louisiana backwoods to look into the mysterious murder of a black sergeant toward the tail end of World War II. Once he arrives, the investigator discovers an Army regiment and an entire community that, despite the beginnings of integration, is still torn apart by race and segregation. He soon learns that on this base, trust is sparse and secrets are a currency all their own”.