Forgotten battalion of black women celebrated in film

On By Littum

Netflix actress Kerry Washington is seen smiling on the set of Six Triple Eight movie flanked by another actressNetflix

The Six Triple Eight will be released on Netflix on Friday, December 20

They were given a task that others had failed at – and they were given it because they were not expected to succeed.

The gripping story of 855 black women who came to Birmingham from America to solve a two-year postal backlog during the Second World War – handling 17 million letters that would otherwise have gone unseen – has been made into a film.

“Ladies, we have been ordered to provide hope and communication and care packages to our exhausted soldiers on the front line and to let their families back home know they are safe,” said Major Charity Adams as she addressed her female soldiers in The The Six Triple Eight.

“Or…or if they’ve died in battle.”

Major Adams, who commanded the 6888th Central Postal Directory Batallion, is played by actress Kerry Washington.

“Everyone thought what they were up against was impossible,” she told the BBC.

“And I think that’s why the movie resonates with people.

“Not just, you know, these particular black women and this time and this place, but anyone who’s ever felt undervalued, doubted, pushed aside or marginalized.”

Netflix actress Kerry Washington on the set of the Netflix film The Six Triple Eight is seen portraying Charity Adams, who inspects the battalionNetflix

Charity Adams is played by actress Kerry Washington

Critically acclaimed director and writer Tyler Perry created the film for Netflix, bringing the women’s achievements to a global audience.

“They were tasked with delivering 17 million pieces of mail that had just been thrown into hangers, which had been moldy and many of the names on the letters were illegible,” he said.

Viewers are in no doubt about the challenge the women faced and the fact that others had failed the same mission.

US National Archive Major Charity Adams and another are seen inspecting members of the 6888 BattalionUS National Archives

Major Charity Adams inspects the first arrivals for the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion

Major Adams declares in the film, “They’ve only given us a ticking clock of six months, and I thought it was a long time before I realized the magnitude of this situation.

“When there is no record, there is low morale.”

They were the first and only color unit of the Women’s Army Corps stationed in Europe during World War II.

The battalion was mostly black women, but there were also women of Caribbean and Mexican descent.

US Army members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion look toward the camera, smiling and wavingUS Army

The battalion was based at King Edward’s School in Edgbaston, Birmingham

“There’s that big line that Tyler wrote to Charity Adams in the movie where she says, ‘we’re fighting a war on all fronts,'” Washington said.

“Because it just felt like, yes, they were dealing with World War II, but they were also dealing with racism and misogyny.

“And even when they came home, they were dealing with people who were prejudiced against them because they went into the army, and people couldn’t believe that they had achieved this incredible goal, so there were rumors that they had only been sent there to be concubines for the black male soldiers.

“So that’s why many of the women never talked about their heritage, never shared this heroic moment in history with anyone.”

Two people sit on chairs with a table in the middle that has a small sign in capitals that reads 'The Six Triple Eight'. Behind them are brown curtains and a tall floor lamp with a white shade. On the left sits a woman with long black straight hair. She is wearing a caramel colored sweater and has her hands folded and is smiling. The man next to her has a shaved head, black beard and mustache, and wears silver-rimmed glasses. He is wearing a dark bomber jacket over a light shirt.

Kerry Washington and Tyler Perry said the story had many layers

In 1945 the late Elizabeth Barker Johnson was 25 when she was based in 6888’s temporary barracks at King Edwards School in Edgbaston.

She spoke to the BBC when she was 98, in 2018.

“Separating the mail, I picked up a package,” she said.

“Everything fell out on the floor and I picked up that watch, I looked at the back of it, it had a man’s name, his number and everything on it and it just made me feel so good because I could pass it on to him.”

Families from 6888. Central Postal Directory Battalion visited King Edwards School last year and returned.

One of their descendants, Janice Martin, said at the time: “All I knew is that she was in the military.

“She served, she said we had a job to do and we came home and no one said anything more after that until the last few years.”

Netflix Tyler Perry on set in a woolly hat and black coat, carrying a megaphone, in front of a group of women in military uniform, one holding an American flag. All shelves.Netflix

The true story of the African-American women has been made into a film by director and writer Tyler Perry

The women were cleared in three months – half the time they had been given.

Charity Adams was the first black woman to command an overseas battalion in the US Army.

Washington said she was full of admiration for the character she plays.

“People talk about loving her, respecting her, because even though she was strict and stern and tough, they knew she wanted the best for them and that she loved them,” she said.

“And I think that’s such a unique leadership quality, the kind of leader that brings out the best in you because they believe in the best in you.”

The 6888 movie will be released on Netflix on Friday, December 20.