Siblings Jamie and Bambi Chambers conclude the story of all-black Buffalo Soldiers sent guard a training camp for new recruits for the war effort in Houston, Texas where Jim Crow laws and white supremacy were in full effect. After enduring constant racism and disrespect, a young soldier tried to intervene in an unfair arrest of a local mother—the resulting police abuse set off a chain reaction that led to over a hundred professional soldiers marching into the city with the intention of killing as many white cops as possible. It’s a challenging story of racism, fear, rage, retribution, and injustice that took over a century to be addressed by the United States and its armed forces.
In this episode we hope you'll consider donating to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in their fight for racial justice through litigation, advocacy and public education. We also express support and solidarity with the Atlanta Forest Defenders and encourage you to learn more and help stop Cop City.
Sources
Mutiny of Rage: The 1917 Camp Logan Riots and Buffalo Soldiers in Houston
by Jaime Salazar and Geoffrey Corn
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61325696-mutiny-of-rage-lib-e
Mutiny on the Bayou: The Camp Logan Story
Documentary by KHOU (CBS affiliate in Houston, Texas)
“Army Overturns Convictions of 110 Black Soldiers Charged in 1917 Riot”
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/us/army-black-soldiers-houston-riot.html
“What was life like when the US entered World War I?”
https://www.wcvb.com/article/what-was-life-like-when-the-us-entered-world-war-i/
“The Average American Today and on the Eve of World War I”
Saturday Evening Post
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2017/04/average-american-today-eve-world-war/
“The Forgotten Northern Origins of Jim Crow”
https://time.com/5527029/jim-crow-plessy-history/
Nine Years Among the Indians, 1870-1879: The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians
by Herman Lehmann
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181989209-nine-years-among-the-indians-1870-1879
“Buffalo Soldiers at San Juan Hill”
https://history.army.mil/documents/spanam/bssjh/shbrt-bssjh.htm
American Patriots: The Story of Blacks in the Military From the Revolution to Desert Storm
by Gail Buckley
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13134601-american-patriots
Public Opinion
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania • Wed, Dec 19, 1917 • Page 1
https://www.newspapers.com/article/public-opinion-cpl-charles-baltimore-of/135162786/
Baltimore’s Last Letter
https://pantagraph.newspapers.com/article/the-franklin-repository-cpl-charles-balt/135165197/
BALTIMORE, Charles W. - South Texas College of Law Digital Collection
https://digitalcollections.stcl.edu/digital/collection/p15568coll1/id/2103/rec/2
Memorandum: 1917 September 13, Inspector General of the Army to The Adjutant General of the Army
https://digitalcollections.stcl.edu/digital/collection/p15568coll1/id/1203/rec/1
Part Two: The Houston Riot of 1917