What japan did to china again. But im not sure what to do this done because its pictures. To we just all go like, wow, look at that and heres another page. [laughter] wow. When going to do instead is talk about it for a little while, talk about this project how it came to be, why im doing and take questions from you guys. In 1917, the United States entered its first war of choice. What i mean by war of choice is a war that we didnt hav have to fight and were we werent sure we wanted to fight. Because every war up until then had had a very concrete goal, which was a war of independence from britain, or a war to hold the unit together and free slaves, or we really like california. Were going to take it away from mexico. But whatever the reasons were it was concrete where as the First World War was the first war of a serial ideal. This weird idea and this idea was hatched by president woodrow wilson. This was a war to make us safe for democracy, to make the world safe for democracy. That sounds great. What a noble cause, marching off to make the world safe for democracy. But what does it mean for soldiers who didnt have democracy at home . Thats what this book is about. In 1917, the United States sent over a group of its own soldiers and set them up to fail. They gave them inadequate training. Initially they didnt give them uniforms. In fact, they didnt even give them rifles to train with because theyre too busy giving away rifles to private rifle clubs so civilians could improve their marksmanship so then they could to fight a war. So this unit actually had to write to the American Government pretends to be private rifle clubs to get their own guns. This unit was then sent to train in the deep south in that tiny little town called spartanburg, which is not what youd call a haven of racial brotherhood. Brotherhood. As a matter fact they are said to train in spartanburg two weeks after one of the worst race riots in american history, in houston, where black soldiers actually write it and shot down and was then shot up themselves, by the police and white military authorities and the whole unit was disgrace. Two weeks later under the black unit is sent to south carolina, on accident . Especially when the mayor of spartanburg wrote to the New York Times and said, do not send them here. Theres going to be trouble. So this unit was sent to spartanburg and their given orders, dont fight back. You guys all here of Jackie Robinson. Deny he is famous for not fighting back. This as a whole unit of that. When we say not fighting back, im not dissing Jackie Robinson but basically theres a difference between people yelling at you from the stands and actually getting beaten up on the streets which is what happened to these guys. They were ordered to not fight back. Because if you do they will blame everything on you and the unit will not be sent overseas and we will be disgrace. They held back with superhuman discipline. And, finally, they got a chance to get overseas. And then they were sent to dig ditches, and that was infuriating. I finally, finally lobbied to be put into combat. Heres the rub. During the First World War the United States was kind of late to the game. And by this point the british and french really wanted we enforcement. They kept saying to the americans, good, youre in the war, give us reinforcements. General pershing said no. We are not just going to feed americas piecemeal into the british and french. These units will fight as an American Unit under an american flag, ma except for the black guys. You guys can go. They gave them to the french. So this unit which had poor training, poor equipment, had to write for the own rifles. Were and were eventually kicked out of its own army and loaned out to a foreign power. What happened to them . They fough thought so valley eln combat that they ended up coming home as one of the most decorated units in entire United States army. [applause] thats what i think. That was the star of the Harlem Hellfighters. One of the worst things that was done to them was they werent allowed to march off in a parade. Thats what happens with soldiers. Thats one thing, one of the good things about being a soldier is before you go off to war, some of you may not come back an, all of you get to feel special. All of you get to march down main street and the tickertape comes and they waved flags and make if you could. In nukes at all the National Guard units were put together in what was called the Rainbow Division and they were sent off to fight and they all got to march off to war together, except these guys. Im not kidding because they were told black is not the color of the rainbow. They got the parade when they came home. They marched up fifth avenue and over 1 million new yorkers of every skin color turned out to welcome them home. The First American, not black american from the First American of any skin color to win the french medal was one of these guys, Henry Johnson the entire unit one that no. This the more time in combat than any other American Unit. They never lost a foot of graphic they never lost a man to capture. At the end of the war when the germans were massing for one big push on paris, one point is nothing between paris and the germans in the sector except these guys. They stopped the kaisers best. One little side note. Their regimental band introduced a previously unknown form of music to the europeans call the jazz. Thats the story of the Harlem Hellfighters and thats the story have literally been trying to tell for 16 years. Thats their story. Heres mine. Im 11 years old, and dont worry about the math, and getting to the. Ive been trying to do for 16 years but ive known it for 30. Agenda working for my parents whose an anglo rhodesian, an englishman who growth in rhodesia. He was studying at ucla and the learned about marxist garvey, using a project so he told a sort of just nonsense about the Harlem Hellfighters. He said did you know there was units of black americans that were given to the french, became one of the most decorated unit in entire u. S. Army even though the u. S. Army didnt want them . When youre a white kid growing up in a good part of l. A. , that kind of injustice is not normal. So that was pretty shocking for me. 11 and a good site ability or did that will happen . What . Really . Oh, my goodness. So i was constantly interested in this and i kept studying about the health fighters as much as i could. When i was 20 i did my semester abroad at college. You go to college, have a great time and venue to a semester abroad in europe and have a great time to get drunk and throw up over there. Just like you do over here. Except people talk differently. Its pretty much your semester abroad. Ego these buildings are old. I did not do that. I went somewhere else. I went to university of the Virgin Islands in st. Thomas did before you think i was just laying on the beach, it was the reverse. I had already vacationed about life and ive thought 20, come here since i was at you and i know absolute nothing about these people. I know the beach, the resort, the happy smiles. I know nothing about the caribbean as a place. I figure im going to use that time this semester abroad to go down there instead history and Political Science and learned about the. And i did. And i learned what its like to be a racial minority for the first time. Before we get all high and mighty lets make sure it was a semester. I got to go home afterwards. It was like a little grain of rice in a giant buffett of racial relations. But it did make me feel for the first time what it feels like to wear a uniform that i cant take off and to be prejudged by that uniform, no matter who i am. Some people back home, some people like me, some people didnt. Lots of points but that was because of me and my mouth. Not because of this. When i was down there i had a professor, an amazing man, and he was a throwback to the 60s. Because we were the character chris rock scared assad not live . That was him. Passionate, angry. He said the greatest crime the way people committed against black people in america was to bury the past accomplishments, which blew me away because i thought thats really true because you can break that down as an individual but when youre trying to raise a child and they dont have confidence and says, i cant do it, the first thing you say is you can do it because youve already done other things. I say this not because im prepared and had to do this. In my nine year old so they can do, i say yes again. My son says the right. If my son had no accomplishments or if i had buried them, he would have no confidence. I would realize that works on a macro group as well. Thats huge to bury those accomplishments, bury that kind of history. So i realized wow, thats an incredible crime. Like i said, why god, sheltered life, had a lot to learn. When i was in the Virgin Islands i discovered some grace from 1917 to 1918, and the by professor. I said, were these the Harlem Hellfighters . And this professor who said to me all about history said who are they . He didnt know. Thats how obscure it was. Flash forward to the 1990s. But i dont know if you remember this, tnt made buffalo soldiers, danny glover, and i thought it was tnt but i think spike lee just directed me. It was hbo that made the original Tuskegee Airmen. Not read tales. The original Tuskegee Airmen with troop including judy. These movies came out within a year of each other. It was an eyeopener because i thought this is a moment, and opportunity for africanamerican military movies. So i decided to write a screenplay, the Harlem Hellfighters and the was a lot back then. The first book i bought off a new website called amazon. Com was like this big. But then i found this amazing book called from harlem to the rhine. That was an original memoir of a guy who actually fought. So i read that. I got a cd recording of the original music from the regimental band them one of the Founding Fathers of jazz, so most amazing jazz lyrics ive ever heard. War lyrics, poetry. And i also got a documentary from 1970s called the men of bronze, one of the last two hellfighters left alive. That was my Core Research material. I wrote the script, went to tnt know, nobody wanted to tnt didnt want it. Nobody wanted it. Years and years, and when youre young and youre struggling initially blame yourself. You initially think well, its my fault, im a bad writer. I had one meeting that changed everything. With lavar burton. A friend of ours had i known of our burden to description. He said i want to be with you. He said if i could make this an rbi would. I dont have the power to direct it but i would typically. Im not going to give up and you shouldnt either the in what he said to me was theres a few Harlem Hellfighters scripts making the rounds right now. But yours comes closest to the truth. Well, let me backtrack and say that when youre a dyslexic kid and you have struggled its going just to be tutored for hours a day just to pull off a see, and dozens of them tell you youre done your homework, yes, sir i will not give up. So thats what kept my fire lit. But finally after so many rejections from hollywood i realized im done with hollywood because hollywood is based on economics. And, finally, i realized war movies are big and expensive, nobody wants to make this movie, fun. I was getting into comics at this point. I had written was at zombie i written in g. I. Joe hearts and minds. Okay, brandon us what you want to do next . I think random house was hoping for world war ii, searching for money. I said i want to do this. Yeah, okay. Lets give it to him. Avt will write world war z part two. So they gave me this thing as sort of idol, just keeping have become a kind of like how to give Martin Scorsese hoping he would make casino. Thats what theyre kind of hoping with me was like give him his black world war what soldier story and then well get world war z, part two, three and four. By that point i done a lot more research and ive learned not just about them but also about the world in which they lived in the greater war and the greater culture, the great migration. What was at stake. And i sat down with his amazing artist, and six years just werent going to conclude anything thats not important. When you read a comic book its official. You have to see everything. So when youre writing something historic all you have to do your homework just to make sure you dont screw up the background, the hairstyles, the clothing, all that stuff just so youre breaking even, just we are getting it right. I was like the research assistant. I had to send him all this stuff. Im not kidding, we have four feet of Research Material of books stacked up of which once all of that was nothing but uniforms of world war i, weapons of world war i, pictures from harlem, all that kind of stuff just to make sure we got it right. So it was quite an endeavor and im very proud of it. So that is the Harlem Hellfighters. As normal im tired of hearing myself talk. I put one poor guy to sleep. Dont wake him. So im going to open not you. It was someone over here. How are you doing . A. Hey. Im going to open the floor to questions. Apparently thank you, thank you. [applause] i think how we are supposed to do this is where going to be like an old 70s talk show where someone is going to raise their hand, and these two sprightly young lasses will run to you with a microphone. So questions anyone . Yes, sir. I hope you dont mind if i ask you about world war z. You can ask me about a. At the successful movie but a lot of people who were into the book were not happy with the movie. They warned . But it was so true to the book. Thats what is going to ask you. Did you of anything to do with the adaptation . How did you feel about and are you concerned if it does become a movie, at the same thing will happen . Excellent question. Let me backtrack and say back to 11, wrote a book called world war z oral history of the zombie war at the movie came out with brad pitt making pancakes and it was the same title. [laughter] thats about it. Was i an bald in the movie . Let me put it this way. I was more involved in getting president obama elected. [laughter] literally because at least i phone banked for obama. I didnt phone bank for this movie. How do i feel about it . I dont have much of anything because it was so different. When youre a book writer you live in care of when the adapter me because you watch the characters say things they wouldnt say, do things they wouldnt do, watch your story get manipulated and just completely eviscerated. I didnt watch that all. I watched the credits roll, which by the way what a title, and then i got to watch 28 days later on crack which have actually nothing to do with my book and it was fun. I dont care what they do with of jerry lynn. He was making pancakes was one. Ive given up a wonderful job for you because i love you. Yes. To our zombies like to go around the world. And i have to check in with you everyday . I think my wife wrote that part. It was a big summer blockbuster movie. Good for them. I didnt say hey, that character which i didnt make up would never say that, so it was so different that allowed me to divorce myself. Am i worried that are going to change my story with the Harlem Hellfighters . No. And you know i . Its not my story. Its their story. Im just telling it. Thats a big difference. World war z came for me. This is a true story. So ive just chosen to tell it. Because it is a tryst with our limits to how much they can do. You know what i mean . Like with world war z h. In the book and had to do with a lot of really angry book fans. But they didnt have to deal with like the families of the real people from the book which they would if they had to change the. So theres limits, plus did you guys know about the movie deal . Heres the irony of my career. All those years i told you about getting rejected, here, screenplay . You dont want it . You dont want a . Find that im going to write a book. Enough with hollywood. High, its hollywood. Two weeks before this book and i got a call from will smiths company. He wants to produce it. He wants me to write the script. [applause] so now this is not to say the move is going to get made. This is not to say the eventual movie if it does get made is not going to star brad pitt. [laughter] and may be a chinese guy because the Chinese Market is very lucrativlucrative for hollywoods imagistic a chinese guy in there just in case. You know, brad pitt and anyway, i dont know what the end result is going to be. Who knows . But whats nice is at least i get the first shot. Thats more than i could ever ask for. Thats where we are right now. Anyone else . Yes, sir. I think you already explained it, but why in the hell did you get so deeply involved in this, this whole experience . On me, i dont even know any black folks who were into it like you are. I mean, its amazing to me, and you know, im really honoring you. Im not putting you down. Thank you. I think i got into initially because my dad was in world war ii. Im 41. Im a gen x or as they say, and most parents of people my age were baby boomers. So they grew up with stories like the drugs we did and the tv we watch and the unprotected sex we had an wow, and by the way, i spend all your inheritance. That generation. I grew up with world war ii parents so i go up with my dad telling stories about combat in europe and about my mother having to ration. And i remember she told how mortified she was having to graduate in like a short skirt because clothing was rationed. So that kind of america was interesting to me. I think history in general was very interesting to me because im always on figure out the world. I never feel like i fit in so unlike how did we get your . I think it helps me to figure out oh, heres what we came