Buffalo Soldiers movie
From
rec.music.reggae
"BUFFALO
SOLDIERS"
From 1866 until President Harry
S. Truman desegregated the U.S. Army in 1946, the 9th and 10th Calvary -- known
as The Buffalo Soldiers -- served their country proudly. Now the story of the
first soldiers, freed African slaves who were recruited to help settle the West,
is being brought to television. Airing this weekend on TNT and starring Danny
Glover, "Buffalo Soldiers" will shed light on an important chapter in U.S.
history.
"The term Buffalo Soldiers,
from my research," Glover says, "was a name given to African-American soldiers
by the Cheyenne. They were identified to be unique by their hair because it
resembled the hair of the buffalo's
coat."
It has been a passion of Danny
Glover's for many years to do a project about blacks and their relationship with
Native Americans in the settling of the West. "Buffalo Soldiers" has been
hanging around Hollywood for 20 years, first as a film and later as a television
project. With Glover picking it up, cable network TNT came on board and now
Glover gets his chance to do a project he's long dreamed about.
"We believe we pay homage to these men,
who played such an enormous role in the development of this country and the
growth of this country. The beauty of being able to tell this story in such a
way, gives us a multifaceted sense of what we are as people. Not this myopic,
one-dimensional sense in which you see black
people."
Set in 1879-1880, Glover plays
Sergeant Washington Wyatt. Wyatt, an ex-slave and accomplished soldier, still
feels he has to prove himself. The Buffalo Soldiers have been assigned the task
of getting rid of the last group of Apaches along the New Mexico- Arizona
border. The film explores the conflict the black soldiers felt over having to
fight Native Americans. Being ex-slaves and second class citizens, the soldiers
did not necessarily feel running the Indian off his own land was right -- but
they also felt the pull of duty.
Glover,
who produced the project, rounded up an all-star cast. Directed by Charles Haid,
"Buffalo Soldiers" stars Michael Warren, Mykel T. Williamson, Glynn Turman, and
Carl Lumbly. In history the Buffalo Soldiers not only fought Crazy Horse, but
they helped in the capture of Geronimo and Billy The Kid. They also escorted
settlers, cattle and railroad crews across the West, strung telephone wires and
patrolled the U.S. Mexico border.
"Buffalo Soldiers" airs Sunday, December
7 on TNT at 8 p.m., 10 p.m and midnight Eastern Time. Check your local listings
for repeat air dates.
Posted: Thu - February 6, 2003 at 04:32 PM