Five Multicultural Movies to Watch on Memorial Day

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

Memorial Day is a holiday meant to remember and honor the women and men who died fighting for the United States in war. Sadly, like many other American holidays, Memorial Day has been commercialized to the point where most people just think of it as the official beginning of summer and an excuse to pull out the grill.

I’m just as guilty as the next Jane or Joe who thinks about hamburgers and hot dogs on Memorial Day instead of the human sacrifice intended, so, I thought I’d create a list of films we could watch that showcase stories of courageous soldiers who sacrificed their lives for freedom in this country. And of course, because this is My American Meltingpot, I’m highlighting films that focus on the military contributions of people of color since they are most often overlooked when we speak of our nation’s heroes.

So, go ahead and fire up the barbecue, but also, make time to watch one – or two – of these films to remind yourself just who it is we should be memorializing.

Five Multicultural Films to Watch on Memorial Day

Red Tails – This film didn’t get great reviews from critics, but this was George Lucas’ passion project in honor of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen who fought in World War II.

Miracle at St. Anna – Based on the novel by James McBride of the same name, this beautiful Spike Lee directed film is an excellent fictionalized story about a group of Black American soldiers stationed in Italy during World War II.

Glory – Let’s go all the way back to the Civil War and remember the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the nation’s first all-Black regiment. This movie, the one that earned Denzel Washington his first Oscar, details the story of how the 54^th came to be and their contributions on the battlefield.

Windtalkers – So, not many people know the fascinating story of the Navajo “code talkers” who fought during World War II. They were recruited to create a secret language that the American military could use in their battles in the Pacific arena. Windtalkers is a feature film that dramatizes their contributions, but critics trashed it as yet another white savior film. So, instead, try watching one of the many well-done documentaries about these heroic Native American men to learn more about their sacrifices and contributions during war.

On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam: This PBS documentary is available for purchase and well worth it. It explores the Latino experience fighting in Vietnam. Latinos often enlisted into the armed forces as a path to citizenship, in addition to a path to financial stability. This film explores all of the complexity baked into those assumptions and outcomes.

Clearly this is enough movie footage to take up your entire Memorial Day, but you don’t have to watch them all in one sitting. But you can remind yourself that our diverse fallen heroes deserve recognition today and every day.

Peace!