A retrospective on Max Brooks & Caanan White’s theatrical rendition of The Harlem Hellfighters.
Throughout the ages, there has been hardly a recorded event regarded as catastrophic as a full-on war. In times of conflict, we stand hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in hopes that the enemy can be subdued quickly and our troops return safely. However, looking into the 369th division of World War 1’s infantry squad, we see how beliefs of domestic kinsmanship can become more nuanced with the times.
The Harlem Hellfighters tells a remarkable story of bravery, resilience, cunning, and recognition in a time when black men were thought to embody no such attributes. Max Brooks pulls no punches in depicting exactly how distressing the times were regarding national and international turmoil.
Taking place from 1917–1919, The Harlem Hellfighters experienced some of the most heinous cases of “separate but equal” that the United States had to offer. Being called hateful terms for using the sidewalk is a common example of what we know of today as the blatant hatred blacks in America faced, but rarely do we recall the random acts of violence and threats of execution that these men had to endure for the offense of leaving their homes every single day. Not to mention the constant pressuring of land and the torching/desecration of any place deemed too “negro-friendly”.
What we as civilians get to witness in the issue is the side that could be regarded as a stain on the legacy of the United States military. We are reminded that acts of hatred were not only a street-level problem, but the bulk of the military branches fully exercised their right to oppress the colored people under their watch as well.
Despite the sacrifices they made just to enlist, Afro-American enlistees were not given uniforms, badges, or even weaponry to practice with; instead, being forced to implement cunningness to forge false rifle clubs that the military would send the “excess” weapons to on request. Luckily, there are no records of the soldiers ever getting caught for this.
The attitude taken towards Afro-Americans attempting to arm and arrange themselves after evidence that the community is not well regarded or protected is not something I have observed in a lot of media; I feel as if we were to accept reasons such as so then we would not be confused as to why so many members of the melanated community are militant, malicious, and mistrusting.
The book goes on to explain the nature of fairness, revenge, regret, reputation, and most importantly freedom of choice or the lack thereof. When the 369th was stationed in Huston they were given strict orders to not retaliate against any of the local population despite knowing full well that the citizens of the town would cast the first stone. Referencing an incident in Spartanburg, NC where a stationed platoon of black men took defensive measures against their assailants resulting in the lynching of the 13 surviving-colored members of the platoon. The 16 white troops were given a standard military burial ceremony while the 4 black members who were killed in the conflict were thrown into an unmarked grave; yes, a singular grave.
We are subject to witness multiple accounts of often violent discrimination against these men who were given grief and heartache their whole lives. Caanan White, the immensely talented illustrator, delivers an equally stunning yet guttural image compilation for the retelling of this story. The anger on the faces of these men, the cutaways to clenched fists, and the ashamed rebuffs of riflemen tell us more than enough about why they had to leave their country to fight.
The scorn of the enemy was bound to be justified, less harsh than the assaults they suffered on the Homeland. Seeing a military story told with pictures delivers such a bold message when you see the straight backs and stern faces discussing procedure only to cut to the same men being demeaned by the citizens, to which they signed on to protect. Due to copyright, I cannot freely share the pages of this book but if you are familiar with Caanan White’s work you know what I mean when I say he spared no expense in making sure every detail in his characters, as well as the settings, were distinguished and detailed as if he was taking moments from events as if unfolding in front of him. From the sharp combat focus of the active soldiers to the insensible pantomimes of racist hecklers, every emotion depicted makes you feel as if the book was taken from your hands and you’re thrust into the moment in time like an ethereal spectator.
In some ways, the Harlem Hellfighters and other black men entering The Great War saw it as their one chance to be as American as their dominant counterpart. If they fought in “the war to end all wars”, as it was called at the time, they would have their calling to inspire the change needed in order to receive humane treatment. Slavery had been over for roughly 59 years from the first Juneteenth and yet there was still enough established history to permanently disgrace the black persons’ image despite seemingly ceaseless service and sacrifice. This nation has been sedimented, sentineled, and sustained by the efforts of black men since inception, without thanks and apparently, all just to have their descendants be depicted as ungrateful, undeserving hooligans. My resulting question when on this thought path is why are we silenced when it’s time to talk about the government’s involvement in diminishing the black persons’ honor and means of sustainability?
Anyone interested in libertarian media or military history should take the time to study this book, not for accurate depiction but to absorb and emulate how history should be taught to younger audiences. Considering that this is set during the First World War, we should get at least a faint idea of how it ends, but that doesn’t mean the middle section is meaningless. The younger crowd today absolutely disdains anything that cannot be swiped or resized to format, yet they seem to be the most inclined to maintain the information they deem critical; I treasure the opportunity to learn from cartoonists and their projects as a result, as someone who may struggle to find digestible information and diligent informants I think it is crucial when my learning resources come with community in kind. Observing life in a regiment from a second-hand source almost inspired a sense of longing to be part of a team put to purpose regardless of odds or prospects. A man is nothing without a team, just as a man cannot craft anything to his liking completely alone.
Our history is typically allowed to be dishonored and/or vanquished in the current oversweep of mainstream media. To me, as a Black man, an aspiring cartoonist, and a self-proclaimed good study the fact that I read critical race theory in a comic book before a textbook stands as equal parts inspiration as it does frustration. The idea that American history must be taught “honestly” via entertainment media rather than educational context is very unsettling, to say the least.
While The Harlem Hellfighters does not abide by all the facts (and can not on the account of black people not being a reputable source for actual journalistic witness/retelling), I believe if people had been introduced to more examples of the instated hatred produced and perpetuated by the Military Industrial Complex as well as the Public Education System then not only would we have more respect for our neighbors but we would also find enjoyment in branching out our horizons when it comes to the kinds of stories we regularly indulge.
We automatically think of Superman or The Avengers when we hear about comic books, we hear it so often that it has become synonymous with the term “comics” to think of “fake people doing outlandish, impossible tasks” when it captivatingly translates the culture of eye-catching literature. Rather than watching a young Bruce Wayne in crime alley watch the most tragic recast re-run in all of cinema, what if we witnessed a fresh and untold story like that of Adam Brashear; a black superhero with origins set in the American 1960’s whose antimatter based abilities allow him to best most of marvels mightiest at their very best, but still must maintain the burden of a masked lifestyle for the sake of the current national agenda. The obvious spoiler, but the most compelling point that needs to be noted, is that the set year of the issue being 1962 meant that Blue Marvel was fighting crime during the Civil Rights Movement and America was adamantly showing that it would rather face the unrelenting tides of evil and intoxicate itself with insensitivity than be saved by a man of African decent.
I find stories like Brashear’s and the 369th’s to be evident that no hero is too great to be underrepresented. It’s not unlikely that the top-grossing films for a box office quarter that’s featuring a black man featuring one of a few archetypes such as the jester, the thug, the muscle, the ladies-man, the guy that’s “totally gonna die first”, the raised by the momma type, etc. All roles are usually played thanklessly and no matter what they are they are outside of normal social behaviors to some degree; so does this mean the established “normal role” of the black man is to do far beyond what is expected of him to still be seen as merely threat, deviant, or nuisance in any given instance that suits the prevailing narrative? I hope to possibly see a show or comic address this topic for the potential of prominent topic exposure.
What remains important is to maintain a love for all mediums of educational entertainment unless we want to bore children with nothing but tales of dusty old skeletons. When we see history come to life, we are then the most fearful of it; but we also are too afraid to ask the people who are the result of race predicated wrongdoings. To repeat the mistakes of our forefathers is to disrespect every hard lesson they fought and bled for. We would surely want to ensure that our generations don’t disregard all the hardship it took to get us here. I imagine there is very little I can do about the pain my people have felt in the past outside of furthering my education out of freedom of choice.
Just as we may waver to find wonder in our own lives when we witness someone fighting for a purpose far grander than the individual, we instinctively if only subconsciously cheer them on “Don’t lose hope, you’re so close, keep the momentum, whether the storm”. When we root for the relatable hero, we can see ourselves as just a little more capable than we were before we started to learn of their story. If there’s hope for a world with more relatable black heroes, it first has to come from the acknowledgment that black people have always aspired to be heroes. We may think that there is boundless strength in a person we watch swiftly subvert expectations but it tends to slip the mind that anyone aiming for greatness likely comes from an extensive background of being told they could never achieve such. There’s more power in all of us than we know, and I’d like to thank the Hellfighters for providing an example, I may never experience a call to action as such but they’ve earned my eternal gratitude for their time served. 369th division, I salute you.
