Fighting for the Right to Fight

On Monday, November 11, 2024, The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana opened the doors to its newly reimagined exhibit, Fighting for the Right to Fight: African American Experiences in WWII. Against the backdrop of the museum’s general crescendo toward Allied victory, this expanded and redeveloped exhibit emphasizes the two-front fight African Americans waged “against fascism abroad and racism at home” — the campaign, ultimately, for a “Double Victory."

The exhibition engages the military service, civilian contributions, and activism of African Americans during the WWII era through the socio-political dynamics of the time period. Visitors learn about "Double Victory," which describes the experiences of African Americans concurrently fighting against fascism abroad and systemic racism at home. The exhibition establishes an understanding that African American war experiences shaped opportunities for the greater African American community during the war, served as a catalyst to the Civil Rights Movement after the war, and continues to have an impact on our lives today.

The notion of a “Double Victory” informed both the physical design and graphic direction of the exhibit, which can be seen through expressions of angles and shapes that refer back to the 1942 “Double Victory” campaign by Black service members. From a narrative perspective, the exhibition tackles an often under-told story of African American military experiences that is inherently complex and vast through an engaging, nuanced, and moving experience. This exhibition is based on the interplay of big ideas, such as freedom, service, and racism, and of personal stories and key events to paint a more comprehensive picture of the depth and breadth of African American military and socio-political lives.