Indiana State University Newsroom

Indiana State University will celebrate the service and valor of African-Americans in our nation's military with showing of the PBS miniseries "For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots."

The African American Cultural Center will show the documentary in two parts with the first half being shown on Monday, Nov. 1 and the second half being shown on Nov. 8 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the events area of Cunningham Memorial Library. There will be a tele-conference question and answer session with Frank Martin, the film's director each evening. The programs are free and open to the public.

In conjunction with the showing of the documentary, presentations about black patriots from the Civil War through World War II will be presented by Christopher Olson and Ann Chirhart Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. in the African American Cultural Center. Presentations about black patriots from the Vietnam War to the current day will be presented by Lisa Phillips and Rev. Terry Clark on Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. in the Cultural Center.

More than 5,000 black soldiers fought in the American Revolution. Although most were not recognized as citizens or even free men, more than 200,000 took up arms in the Civil War. More than 380,000 African-Americans served in World War I and more than 2 million defended their country in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Their service is largely absent from history books and film accounts.

"For Love of Liberty: The Story of America's Black Patriots," introduced by Colin Powell, hosted on-camera by Halle Berry and narrated by Avery Brooks, sets the record straight.

The PBS miniseries uses letters, diaries, speeches, journalistic accounts, historical text and military records to document and acknowledge the sacrifices and accomplishments of African-American service men and women since the earliest days of the republic. The story spans the Revolution to today and examines why, despite enormous injustice, these heroic men and women fought so valiantly for freedoms they themselves did not enjoy.

"For Love of Liberty" is about black heroes and the emotional, first-hand accounts of the men and women who were in harm's way. Since the earliest days of this nation, the hopes, fears, thoughts, and observations of these brave warriors have been preserved in a fascinating collection of written accounts, brought to life via dramatic readings by Morgan Freeman, Louis Gossett, Jr., Ossie Davis, Robert Duvall, Danny Glover, Walter Cronkite, Isaac Hayes, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood and many others. Their words reveal a story of perseverance and triumph, which the documentary vividly brings to life through the use of rare photographs, archival materials, reenactments, personal memorabilia, historical paintings and posters.

Martin began his career as a documentary filmmaker, after spending eight years as a San Francisco radio personality and production director. In 1988, Martin approached John Huston and convinced the film director to allow him to document his long and colorful life. The result was "John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick," which earned numerous national and international awards including The Filmmakers Trophy at the 1989 Sundance Film Festival (then known as the United States Film Festival), and a nomination for "Best Director" at the 11th Annual National ACE Awards.

Shortly thereafter, Martin wrote and directed "MGM: When the Lion Roars." Other documentaries produced and directed by Martin include "The Wonderful World of Disney: Forty Years of Television Magic," the six-part documentary series for Showtime "Sex, Censorship & the Silver Screen," the Disney Channel primetime special "Elvis in Hollywood," "Warner Bros. 75 Years of Laughter," "CBS: The First 50 Years" and "Mr. K: A Common Man with Uncommon Vision."

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Contact: Stephanie Jefferson, director of the African American Cultural Center, 812-237-3811

Writer: Paula Meyer, ISU Communications & Marketing, 812-237-3783 or paula.meyer@indstate.edu