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the African soldiers who helped win World War II. Africa. I didn't know. Welcome back know it alls to another episode of the most anticipated podcast on the Black Effect podcast network, especially in February, entitled I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. I'm your charismatic, very attractive sister. 6 foot 2, 180 pound, cut up like a bag of dope host B dots. And yes, I look like a Greek God in the nude, but that's neither here nor there. We've got two more destinations this week, so grab that digital passport cause today we headed to the motherland. Africa. Oh yeah, you getting stamps this week? Because if Your World War II history only includes Europe and America. Well that's not history, that's editing. But before we get into that, I have to give you three of the most useless facts you'll never need. Never ever, not a day in life. Up first, over 1 million African soldiers fought in World War II. Here's second useless fact, they served in Europe, the Middle east and Asia, not just Africa. And. And your third useless fact, most of them came home to colonial rule anyways. So yeah, let's talk about that. Look, When World War II broke out, Europe needed help bad. They were looking like Jake Paul in the ring with Anthony Joshua last year. You remember that? And they'd have got they white asses knocked out just like Jake Paul if they didn't do what colonial powers always do when they in trouble, they turned to Africa. Need bodies, call Africa. Need labor, call Africa. Need us to fight your war. Same number man. Britain, France and others recruited millions of African men to fight fascism, Nazism and imperial aggression. The King's African Rifles, the Royal West African Frontier Force, man. These weren't just units, they were entire military traditions with decorated service histories. African soldiers fought in North Africa. They helped liberate Italy. They battled in Burma. They guarded supply lines. They carried equipment through the terrain. The Europeans couldn't survive, man. They weren't assistants, they were soldiers, man. The Burma campaign alone had 90,000 African soldiers fighting Japanese forces in jungle warfare. The 81st and 82nd West African divisions were critical to the Allied victory there. But here's the contradiction that broke everything wide open, man. African troops were fighting for freedom abroad while they was living under colonial rule at home. They saw Europeans panic. White soldiers bleed, empires weaken. And that's when they realized something that was powerful. These people ain't invincible, man. When that war ended, them African soldiers returned home with military training, global awareness and zero patience for colonial nonsense that ain't a coincidence. Many of those post World War II independence movements across Africa were led by veterans who had already fought and won wars for other people. Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo, Kenyatta, Leopold Singor. All independence leaders across Africa who drew directly from veteran networks and and the political awakening that came from World War II. They just decided it was time to fight for themselves. And here's the part that gets erased. World War II is often framed as the war that saved democracy. But democracy leaned heavily on African bodies to survive without them. That war looks pretty damn different. A century after Carter G. Woodson warned that black history would be minimized or erased, African soldiers became proof they helped save the world and were written out of the story. CG Dub knew if we don't document global black sacrifice, freedom starts looking like it was won by only a few. And it was not. If you learned something on today's episode, please share it, because I promise you, I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either.