Begin by asking students to reflect on military service by posing the following question:

• What rights do you believe a nation should grant its citizens who serve in the military during wartime?

Have students turn-and-talk, sharing their responses with a classmate. Call on volunteers to share their initial thoughts.

Screen The Harlem Hellfighters of World War I film by Black History in Two Minutes or so and have students respond to Connect, Extend, Challenge questions:

• How does this film connect to your understanding of African American history?
• How does this film extend your understanding of African American history?
• How does this film challenge your understanding of African American history?

Next, have students work with a partner to read one 1918 excerpt and one 1919 excerpt written by W.E.B. Du Bois in The Crisis, the publication of the NAACP, answering another set of Connect, Extend, Challenge questions:

• How do The Crisis pieces connect to your understanding of African American struggles for equality?
• How do The Crisis pieces extend your understanding of African American struggles for equality?
• How do The Crisis pieces challenge your understanding of African American struggles for equality?

Debrief and discuss the excerpts from The Crisis and students’ responses to the questions. 

Next, have students read the 1942 editorial published in the Pittsburgh Courier. Explain to students that questions of segregation in the armed forces continued after World War I, and they remained an issue even as the United States entered World War II. As students read, have them consider the question:

• What about the issues regarding Black military service during World War II is similar to the issues discussed in the context of World War I? Why do you think these similarities existed for another generation of Black people in the U.S. armed services?

After discussing the Pittsburgh Courier editorial, screen The Double V Campaign of World War II film by Black History in Two Minutes or so. 

Have students write a short exit ticket or journal reflection answering one or more of the following questions:

• Why do you think segregation in the military service during two world wars attracted so much attention by Black newspaper writers and publishers?
• What about the issue of segregation in the U.S. military appealed specifically to a Black audience? What about this issue appealed to a broader national audience?
• How was the fight for racial equality in the U.S. armed forces connected to broader issues of racial equality in the United States?