African Americans served with bravery and distinction in every conflict since the American Revolution. Yet the stories of these heroes have been consistently omitted from our collective memory. From the now-famed Tuskegee airmen to the 320th Barrage Balloon Battalion, D-Day’s only all-Black combat unit, modern historians have been tasked with setting the record straight.
As we approach the 80th anniversary of D-Day, join the author of Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day’s Black Heroes, Linda Hervieux, and Commissioner of the American Battle Monuments Commission Raymond Kemp as they discuss the achievements of the more than one million African American men and women who served in uniform during World War II.
About the speakers:
Linda Hervieux is a Paris-based American journalist and teacher who has lectured extensively about the forgotten African Americans of D-Day and World War II at venues including Harvard, Princeton, and the National African American Museum of History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The men of Forgotten will be featured in an episode of the upcoming National Geographic/Disney+ series Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color.
Raymond D. Kemp, Sr., was appointed by President Biden to the American Battle Monuments Commission. During a 33-year career in the U.S. Navy, Kemp served as the first Black Fleet Master Chief for the U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa. He is the CEO of Kemp Solutions, a best-selling author, and executive coach.
