Honoring Our Own

Thanks to all those who served...

Memorial Day and the Legacy of Black Men in Service

Memorial Day is often viewed as the unofficial start of summer—a long weekend of barbecues, sales, and family gatherings. But for many Black men, it’s a day that carries deeper, more complex layers of meaning—layers shaped by a legacy of sacrifice, struggle, and service that has too often gone unrecognized.

Since the founding of this country, Black men have fought—and died—for freedoms they weren’t always allowed to enjoy. From the Revolutionary War and the Civil War’s United States Colored Troops, to the segregated ranks of World War II, Vietnam, and the modern-day military, Black soldiers have stood on the front lines while facing racism both abroad and at home. Memorial Day, then, is not just about remembering the fallen—it’s about claiming space in a national memory that has historically overlooked Black contributions.

For Black men today, Memorial Day is an opportunity to honor ancestors who laid down their lives in a country that didn’t always return the favor. It's a time to reflect on what it means to serve a nation and still fight for equity within it. It’s about recognizing the weight of generational courage—the uncles, grandfathers, cousins, and brothers who wore the uniform with pride and purpose.

It’s also a moment to challenge erasure. Black war heroes like Sgt. Henry Johnson of the Harlem Hellfighters or Lt. John Fox, who posthumously received the Medal of Honor decades after his death, remind us that patriotism and protest can coexist. That loyalty to community and country doesn’t require silence in the face of injustice. Memorial Day is about reclaiming those stories and telling them loudly.

And in doing so, we remind ourselves—and the world—that Black men are not only survivors of the American story. We are builders of it. Defenders of it. And yes, mourners of those who gave all for it.

This Memorial Day, we honor not only the lives lost but the truths they carried. We honor the complexity of being Black, male, and American—and the dignity of those who bore that weight in uniform.

Let us remember them—not just as soldiers, but as brothers. As fathers. As men. As us.