Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II
A team of scholars and award-winning directors got together to develop probably one of the most important documentaries of the decade. Though most Americans have no knowledge of it.
The film Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II is a documentary about the 600,000 African American women that were recruited and enlisted for war production, government offices, and the U.S. military, for the very first time in American history. These women were "Rosie The Riveters". However, history has done very little to acknowledge their efforts.
The documentary discloses personal interviews with women who lived nearly a century and survived to reveal their accounts of progress and discountenance throughout the World War II era. Interviewees include the late Dr. Dorothy Height, a civil and women's rights activist, president of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW), to women warriors serving in the military and other positions that were revolutionary to women. World War II made it possible for women to openly take on professional trades for the very first time in history. There was a sense of pride. On the downside, there was a considerable amount of prejudice. Thus, African American women showed they that were equal to men and of whites in intelligence and capability, contrary to popular beliefs. Even though African American women were unaware of the magnitude of their stride, they gladly traded in domestic service roles that simply paid $5 a week to obtain skilled positions that amounted to $50 dollars per week. This was a huge deal for Black women, especially since many had been poor and reduced to the lowest type of labor.