‘For Love of Liberty’ Celebrates Black History in Wartime

7 Dec, 2009 By: Billy Gil

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Frank Martin’s For Love of Liberty: The Story of America’s Black Patriots starts with the death of Crispus Attucks, often cited as the first person to die in the American Revolution, and continues through the inauguration of President Barack Obama. Melee Entertainment, distributed by Vivendi Entertainment, will release the four-hour film Feb. 9 (order date Jan. 5) at $19.93.

“Most people, when they hear about this documentary, they all go, ‘oh yeah’ this is about the Buffalo Soldiers or The Tuskegee Airmen.’ They’re certainly part of it,” Martin said of the documentary he produced, co-wrote and directed. “But this story is so much bigger and so much broader than that. There were black people who fought in the Battle of New Orleans and the War of 1812. One out of every six people who served in the navy in the War of 1812 was black.”

The documentary is hosted by Halle Berry, narrated by Avery Brooks, features an introduction by Colin Powell and participation by such actors as Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson, Susan Sarandon, Robert Duvall, Danny Glover, Angela Bassett and Blair Underwood. Martin also was able to secure the rights to use songs by Billie Holiday (“Strange Fruit”) and Jimi Hendrix (“Machine Gun”). Additionally, it has been supported by documentarian Ken Burns, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and major veterans organizations.

For Love of Liberty will premiere on public television stations in February. 

The DVD includes more than an hour of extra features, including deleted scenes, archival footage from as far back as 1898 and the music video “Was My Brother in the Battle?”

To make the film, Martin solicited the Library of Congress, the National Archives and families of veterans to use letters, diaries, speeches, journal entries, historical texts and military records of black soldiers. He said he collected “virtually every scrap shot on African-Americans in the military” making this film over the course of 10 years, with the footage dating back to 1898 in the Spanish-American War.

“All the World War I and World War II newsreels you’ve seen, everyone in those is always white,” Martin said. “We’ve got hours and hours and hours of footage. And everybody in this footage is black.”

Martin said the film appeals both to black viewers who may know the story of their ancestors who fought in the U.S. military as well as other viewers who may not know the history of these soldiers. He said the film serves to show why black soldiers fought in these wars.

“The film asks and answers the question: Why would a group of people shed their blood for the defense of a country that treated them worse than second-class citizens?” Martin said. “The answer is, like all Americans in all wars, black Americans fought for the love of liberty.”
 

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