Script Framework: Harlem Hellfighters
Script Framework: Harlem Hellfighters
Embedded Files
Socio-Emotional Animation Script : Harlem Hellfighters
Socio-Emotional Animation Script : Harlem Hellfighters
We will be amplifying history with the aim to move viewers beyond reaction to action using the I-See-U Socio-Emotional Framework.
Timing: 23, 74, 16, 17, 14 = 144 seconds
Set Expectations (5-20 seconds): The Preamble
Set Expectations (5-20 seconds): The Preamble
Primal Brain: Starting with a high-emotion, introductory statement, will positively influence the audiences perception of the rest of the video. This is accomplished by boosting the dopamine levels in their primal brain right at the start. Target emotions that can be triggered by things like surprise, shame, anxiousness, confusion, courageousness, cruelty, cynicism, distress, doom, intimidation, idealism, hostility, hopelessness, hopefulness accomplishment, gratefulness, mourning, belonging.
“They never lost a man through capture, lost a trench, or a foot of ground to the enemy.” wrote historian, Arthur W. Little.
(23 words =12 seconds)
Tell The Story (60-80 seconds)
Tell The Story (60-80 seconds)
Knowledgeable Brain: tell the story in a way that provides a visual and iconic image for each of the major events. We will add motion and sound, which together with the images, will inject the story into the viewer's long-term memory which are organized in the hippocampus, but with bits that are located at various places in the cortex where they are associated with sensory experiences and other tangential, previous memories that connect with and provide context.
Quickly list all of the accomplishments (text)
Pick one to focus on (that emphasizes overcoming resistance)
The 369th Infantry was an African American unit, known as the Harlem Hellfighters. Trained in the south they were segregated and spent months as dock loaders constantly confronting bigotry from the United States Army.
White American soldiers refused to fight with them. In 1918 they were welcomed to serve with a French Army unit who called them the Men of Bronze.
They earned their Hellfighters name from the Germans, a term of respect, and experienced the most combat of any American unit. While winning many battles and suffering 1500 casualties, white soldiers still refused to acknowledge their courage.
Ferris Institute student Percy A. Fitzgerald wrote while serving in France “During the big drive ... our boys took an active part. The regiment was in for twelve days and came out much smaller than it went in. Most of the fighting was in the open with no trenches.”
Timing
147 words = 74 seconds
aim: 120 - 160 words
Affirm its importance Value Proposition (10-20 seconds)
Affirm its importance Value Proposition (10-20 seconds)
Our Logical Brain: Explain the importance of the story using dates, data, statistics, etc to reinforce it. This aims to engage the neocortex, where rational and analytical thought occurs.
Though honored by the French military as well as a Harlem parade attended by millions, they were still confronted by Jim Crow racism in the South and racial segregation in the North.
Timing
32 words (16 seconds)
aim: 20-40 words
Connect it with the viewer (10-20 seconds)
Connect it with the viewer (10-20 seconds)
Our Tribal Brain: Connect the story to where we are today. This can give the viewer a sense that they are part of a continuum in which the history and the present are joined. This feeling of connectedness occurs in the brain's Limbic System, which has no capacity for the expression of ideas as language, but is the most important factor for moving audiences beyond reaction to action.
These incredible individuals were instrumental to the progression of the rank of African Americans within the military, eventually culminating in General Colin Powell's appointment to the rank of Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1989.
Timing
34words (17 seconds)
aim: 20-40 words
Call to Action (3-10 seconds)
Call to Action (3-10 seconds)
What do you want the audience to do with this new information? What can be said to move the viewer beyond reaction to action? Example:
Today, we are finally giving the Hellfighters the respect they deserve. Perhaps we have learned to judge others by their accomplishments and not the color of their skin.
Timing
28 words (14 seconds)
aim: 6-20 words
Credits
Credits
And those fierce Hellfighter's? ... their band introduced jazz to France.
Play their music under the credits
Time
Time
376 seconds as is in this version.
target = 90-120 seconds
Needs a call to action.
Original From JCM
Original From JCM
“They never lost a man through capture, lost a trench, or a foot of ground to the enemy.”
The Harlem Hellfighters known for their courage and toughness “spent more time in combat than any other American unit” during World War 1.
The 369th Infantry was an African American unit. Most people know it by a nickname, the Harlem Hellfighters. It was one of the few black combat regiments. Their training was in Spartanburg, South Carolina—but the training was interrupted because southern military officials didn’t want their men to interact with black soldiers. When they arrived in Europe for duty, they were segregated from white soldiers—and, adding insult, they spent months as stevedores.
On April 8, 1918, the United States Army assigned the unit to the French Army, in large part because many white American soldiers refused to perform combat duty with black soldiers. The French unit had been depleted, so they welcomed the Black soldiers, who they called the Men of Bronze.
The Germans who fought the men from the 369th had a different name for the unit: the Hellfighters. This was a compliment, a term of respect. The Hellfighters served 191 days under fire. That represents more time in continuous combat than any other American unit. Undermining the racist contention that black men lacked courage, they fought and won many battles, despite suffering the most losses of any American regiment, with fifteen hundred casualties.
A letter written by future Ferris Institute student Percy A. Fitzgerald while serving in France, described one of the unit’s battles. “During the big drive which started on the night of September 25 our boys took an active part. The regiment was in for twelve days and came out much smaller than it went in. Most of the fighting was in the open with no trenches.”
The Hellfighters claim to have never lost a man through capture, lost a trench, or lost a foot of ground to the enemy. Those bold claims are difficult to prove. There is, however, no dispute that the French soldiers saw the Hellfighters as courageous fighters. The French army bestowed on the Hellfighters the prestigious Croix de Guerre for “brave and bitter fighting.”
The 369th regimental band, under the leadership of band Director Lieutenant James Reese was widely popular throughout Europe. The band is credited with introducing jazz music to British, French, and other European audiences.
The Hellfighters returned to a parade in Harlem (their original home), greeted by at least one million supporters. But, when the parade ended, they were still confronted by Jim Crow racism in the South and racial segregation in the North—worse still, they returned to a country that was soon gripped by the race riots of 1969.
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