The Double V

International City Theatre presents a historical drama about the first Black civil rights movement in the U.S. In 1942 his attempt to enlist in the army rejected because of his color 26-year-old James G. Thompson of Wichita Kansas wrote a letter to the editor of The Pittsburgh Courier at the time the most highly circulated Black newspaper with a readership of over 350000. “Should I sacrifice my life to live half American?” he asked… leading the Courier to kick off the “Double V” campaign. Building on the popular “V for Victory” slogan that called for triumph in the war the super-imposed second “V” called for victory in the fight for racial equality — in the army the navy and in all aspects of segregated daily life. Other Black newspapers including the Chicago Defender and the Amsterdam Star-News soon took up the call. Under pressure from the campaign and against the advice of J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI the U.S. was forced to adopt a policy of “proportional representation” that allowed Black Americans to participate in the military in direct proportion to their percentage of the population. International City Theatre at the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center 330 E. Seaside Way Long Beach CA 90802; (562) 436-4610; InternationalCityTheatre.org.

Host or Publisher Lucy Pollak