Hattie Collier here. If you’ve been following my friends and myself, you know that I am not the money wizard of our group. That’s not going to stop me from offering you a sound piece of investment advice.
Depending on where in the United States you live, all you need is $5 to $10, and two hours of your time. My investment tip: the movie Red Tails. This George Lucas film directed by Anthony Hemingway is the Word War II story of the first African American fighter pilots. The name Red Tails was the popular name given the pilots because of the bright red markings on their airplanes. These men were actually known as the Tuskegee Airman—Black pilots trained at Tuskegee University as an experiment to see if Blacks were capable of being aviators.
Now, just like I’m not a money wizard, I’m also not a movie critic, so this is not a movie review, yet I’m giving my opinion anyway. The way the characters talk in this movie doesn’t quite ring true and the story just scratches the surface of the true story, but at least the story is out there. So to get the most out of your time and monetary investment, adults should take their children or some other young person to see this movie
They will probably find it hard to believe that at one time in this country these young men had to fight for the right to fight for America. Black Americans had fought in this country’s wars since the Revolution. It borders on the ridiculous that they had to “prove” over and over that Black men possessed pride, bravery, courage and intelligence, but it happened. This movie might seem especially significant during Black History month, but as far as I’m concerned this is American history month.
The best part of the investment that you’ll make in going to see this movie is that it gives movie goers the chance to see that as people we may have different struggles in life but the human connection is the same. Love, hate, pride and fear are all human emotions and no matter the people or the culture, there are lessons to be learned in how obstacles are overcome in life.
Now here’s how to make your investment grow. Take the time to go beyond this movie and learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that you can learn about a subject from watching a movie. I’m talking about go to your libraries and getting books about these men. Do some research on the internet and if you’re lucky enough, talk to someone with knowledge of the events. After all, movies can’t capture all of the real human drama of a story.
It would be hard to loose on your investment on this one, especially if you take your kids. Not only will you spend time with them, but you may help them understand their place in the world, as well as teach them to value the contributions others have made in shaping it. That’s a lot for a few dollars and 2 hours of your time.
Just muse on that.
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