Welcome to the liturgist podcast.

You are now listening to Black History is American History.

I'm William Matthews.

Hey, I'm propaganda.

I'm Nikki Black.

And I'm Anjah Henry.

Today's moment in Black History, the Tuskegee Airmen.

The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African American military fighters and bomber pilots

who fought in World War II.

They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 447th Bombardment Group of the United States

Army Air Forces.

The name also applies to the navigators, the barters, the mechanics, instructors, crew

chiefs, nurses, cooks, and all other support personnel, which is important to remember.

The racially motivated rejections of World War I, African American recruits sparked more

than two decades of advocacy by African Americans who wished to enlist and train as military

aviators.

The effort was led by such prominent civil rights leaders as Walter White of the NAACP,

which you'll hear about in a later episode.

Labor union leader A. Philip Randolph and Judge William H. Hastie.

Finally on April 3rd, 1939, appropriations bill public law 18 was passed by Congress,

containing an amendment by Senator Harry H. Schwartz, designating funds for training

of African American pilots.

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