Here are some issues from a well-recorded interview. We’ve sent hundreds of interviews just like this one through this same AI program. I’m not complaining about the program, it’s the best we’ve used. But AI doesn’t care about what people actually, it cares about telling you it’s correct.
So if you’re not using us, you’re paying somebody to listen to every single word to determine that the person said “shorts” not Charlotte. SERIOUSLY!? Let us help. AI isn’t as much help as they want you to think.
Forwarded to the YouTube Office of —> Forwarded to the UTxxx (for privacy) Office of Indiana—> MD Anderson Charlotte—> shorts Due to some protocol—> MD Anderson protocol Gave me a pen—-> Gave me a PBN Fox Nine Hills—-> Fox signed his Clock Clinic—> Clark Clinic I think you’re the name—> I forgot her name Beauty over there—> Video over there Put the vat up—> put the video up Hey, Robert—> Hey, ROC Drug screens—> drawstrings I’m tired—> I tie (referring to a pair of shorts) I’m getting rid of the process—> I’m ready to process Deposit—> Pause it Cup—> color Not to just buy—> Not to put you on the spot. I’m trying to mimic you—-> I’m trying to remember, too. Get the corner—> get the color Those were unaware—> those were underwear UT Please—> UT Police
Thanks for reading Capturing Voices! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
Here are some issues from a well-recorded interview. We’ve sent hundreds of interviews just like this one through this same AI program. I’m not complaining about the program, it’s the best we’ve used. But AI doesn’t care about what people actually, it cares about telling you it’s correct.
So if you’re not using us, you’re paying somebody to listen to every single word to determine that the person said “shorts” not Charlotte. SERIOUSLY!? Let us help. AI isn’t as much help as they want you to think.
Forwarded to the YouTube Office of —> Forwarded to the UTxxx (for privacy) Office of Indiana—> MD Anderson Charlotte—> shorts Due to some protocol—> MD Anderson protocol Gave me a pen—-> Gave me a PBN Fox Nine Hills—-> Fox signed his Clock Clinic—> Clark Clinic I think you’re the name—> I forgot her name Beauty over there—> Video over there Put the vat up—> put the video up Hey, Robert—> Hey, ROC Drug screens—> drawstrings I’m tired—> I tie (referring to a pair of shorts) I’m getting rid of the process—> I’m ready to process Deposit—> Pause it Cup—> color Not to just buy—> Not to put you on the spot. I’m trying to mimic you—-> I’m trying to remember, too. Get the corner—> get the color Those were unaware—> those were underwear UT Please—> UT Police
Thanks for reading Capturing Voices! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This museum looks fascinating! Have you been? Have any pictures or anecdotes to share? We’d LOVE to hear from you!
We’ve transcribed hundreds of hours of WWII oral histories and we’ve loved every minute! Tell us your stories!
—Texas Military Forces Museum— Camp Mabry, Austin Texas
ADMISSION IS FREE
Hours
SePTEMBER to May: Tuesday tHRU Sunday 10:00 – 4:00
June, July, AuGUST: Open Seven DaYS a Week 10:00 -4:00
OUTDOOR EXHIBITS OPEN DAWN TO DUSK ALL YEAR
WE ARE ALWAYS OPEN ON VETERANS DAY, JULY 4 AND MEMORIAL DAY
Address: 3038 W 35th St, Austin, Tx 78703
Thanks for reading Capturing Voices! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The 45,000-square foot Texas Military Forces Museum explores the history of the Lone Star State’s militia and volunteer forces from 1823 (date of the first militia muster in Stephen F. Austin’s colony) to 1903 when the Congress created the National Guard. From 1903 to the present the museum tells the story of the Texas Army and Air National Guard, as well as the Texas State Guard, in both peacetime and wartime. Permanent exhibits utilize uniforms, weapons, equipment, personal items, film, music, photographs, battle dioramas and realistic full-scale environments to tell the story of the Texas Military Forces in the Texas Revolution, the Texas Navy, the Texas Republic, the Mexican War, the Battles along the Indian Frontier, the War between the States, the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Peace Keeping Deployments and the Global War on Terror. Living history programs, battle reenactments and other special events take place throughout the year. Admission to the museum is FREE.
Research
The library and archives are open by appointment only. Please call for an appointment. The museum maintains an archive of various materials including:
Thousands of original documents from the Texas National Guard from 1910 to the present day
Photo archive of pictures related to the Texas Military Forces
Living History/Reenactment
Nothing brings military history to life like hearing the sound of a machine gun, the boom of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the drone of aircraft engines or feeling the earth shake under you while a tank drives by. All of these experiences are available to visitors courtesy of the Texas Military Forces Museum Living History Detachment which conducts a series of battle reenactments, demonstrations, displays, parades and living history programs throughout the year to make history “come alive” for young and old alike.
The primary focus of the detachment is the 36th Infantry Division in World War II and the famous Texas Brigade during the War Between the States. However, the detachment also participates in World War I and Vietnam War events as well as other time periods.
The museum’s living historians travel around the country to take part in historic events, but the backbone of their schedule are three programs that take place on Camp Mabry each year: the Close Assault 1944 living history program which occurs over Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day weekend and the annual Texas Military Forces Open House – Muster Day event during April.
This museum looks fascinating! Have you been? Have any pictures or anecdotes to share? We’d LOVE to hear from you!
We’ve transcribed hundreds of hours of WWII oral histories and we’ve loved every minute! Tell us your stories!
—Texas Military Forces Museum— Camp Mabry, Austin Texas
ADMISSION IS FREE
Hours
SePTEMBER to May: Tuesday tHRU Sunday 10:00 – 4:00
June, July, AuGUST: Open Seven DaYS a Week 10:00 -4:00
OUTDOOR EXHIBITS OPEN DAWN TO DUSK ALL YEAR
WE ARE ALWAYS OPEN ON VETERANS DAY, JULY 4 AND MEMORIAL DAY
Address: 3038 W 35th St, Austin, Tx 78703
Thanks for reading Capturing Voices! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
The 45,000-square foot Texas Military Forces Museum explores the history of the Lone Star State’s militia and volunteer forces from 1823 (date of the first militia muster in Stephen F. Austin’s colony) to 1903 when the Congress created the National Guard. From 1903 to the present the museum tells the story of the Texas Army and Air National Guard, as well as the Texas State Guard, in both peacetime and wartime. Permanent exhibits utilize uniforms, weapons, equipment, personal items, film, music, photographs, battle dioramas and realistic full-scale environments to tell the story of the Texas Military Forces in the Texas Revolution, the Texas Navy, the Texas Republic, the Mexican War, the Battles along the Indian Frontier, the War between the States, the Spanish-American and Philippine-American Wars, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, Peace Keeping Deployments and the Global War on Terror. Living history programs, battle reenactments and other special events take place throughout the year. Admission to the museum is FREE.
Research
The library and archives are open by appointment only. Please call for an appointment. The museum maintains an archive of various materials including:
Thousands of original documents from the Texas National Guard from 1910 to the present day
Photo archive of pictures related to the Texas Military Forces
Living History/Reenactment
Nothing brings military history to life like hearing the sound of a machine gun, the boom of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the drone of aircraft engines or feeling the earth shake under you while a tank drives by. All of these experiences are available to visitors courtesy of the Texas Military Forces Museum Living History Detachment which conducts a series of battle reenactments, demonstrations, displays, parades and living history programs throughout the year to make history “come alive” for young and old alike.
The primary focus of the detachment is the 36th Infantry Division in World War II and the famous Texas Brigade during the War Between the States. However, the detachment also participates in World War I and Vietnam War events as well as other time periods.
The museum’s living historians travel around the country to take part in historic events, but the backbone of their schedule are three programs that take place on Camp Mabry each year: the Close Assault 1944 living history program which occurs over Memorial Day weekend and Veterans Day weekend and the annual Texas Military Forces Open House – Muster Day event during April.
From one of my favorite history blogs, History Can’t Hide by Khalil Greene. You can find it here: Historycanthide.substack.com. About Mr. Greene:
I’m Kahlil Greene, aka the Gen Z Historian, and one week after my 19th birthday, I became the first Black student body president in Yale’s 318-year history.
Now, I’m a Peabody-winning edutainer with 750,000+ followers and 30 million+ views across TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn, where I share history lessons that unpack the injustices shaping our world today.
I write History Can’t Hide, a newsletter uncovering buried and whitewashed histories, and I just premiered my first documentary series with National Geographic, bringing these stories to the screen.
Today, millions of Americans will wave flags, fire up grills, and celebrate the birth of freedom. Politicians will give speeches about liberty and justice for all. Children will learn about brave patriots fighting for independence against British tyranny.
But here’s what they won’t hear: More Black Americans fought against American independence than for it. Between 15,000-20,000 Black Americans joined British forces during the Revolutionary War, while only 5,000-8,000 served with the Continental Army. For enslaved people in 1776, the enemy offered freedom while the “freedom fighters” offered continued bondage.
Ethiopian Regiment uniform with “Liberty to Slaves” inscription.
The Fourth of July is a carefully constructed lie that erases the choices Black Americans actually made when liberty was on the line.
I’m fighting to document stories like these British Black regiments before they’re dismissed as “unpatriotic” or erased entirely, and I need your help!
With no corporate backing or wealthy sponsors, this work depends entirely on readers like you.
If everyone reading this became a paid subscriber, I could investigate these hidden histories full-time, but right now less than 4% of my 27,000 followers are paid subscribers.
If you believe in journalism that challenges July 4th mythology when others look away, please consider a paid subscription today!
History Can’t Hide from Kahlil Greene is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
British Promises of Freedom vs. American Slavery
In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, Virginia’s royal governor, issued a proclamation that changed everything. Any enslaved person owned by a “rebel” who joined British forces would be freed. It was strategic warfare designed to destabilize the colonial economy and terrify plantation owners. But for thousands of enslaved Americans, the motivation didn’t matter. It was a path to freedom.
Lord Dunmore’s 1775 proclamation offering freedom to enslaved Americans.
The response was immediate and massive. Within months, hundreds of Black men formed Dunmore’s “Ethiopian Regiment,” wearing uniforms emblazoned with “Liberty to Slaves.” When British General Henry Clinton expanded the offer in 1779 through the Philipsburg Proclamation, promising freedom to any enslaved person who escaped rebel masters, an estimated 100,000 enslaved people fled to British lines during the war.
Conversely, when Black soldiers like Salem Poor and Peter Salem fought heroically at Bunker Hill in 1775, the Continental Congress banned Black enlistment entirely. George Washington, himself a slaveholder, initially expelled Black soldiers already serving. The Declaration of Independence proclaimed that “all men are created equal” while keeping half a million people in chains.
Black Americans chose the side that offered them humanity.
Black Soldiers in British Forces
Throughout the war, Black Americans served in multiple British units across different regions. The Black Dragoons operated as cavalry in South Carolina, conducting raids against Patriot forces. The Black Pioneers worked as combat engineers and laborers, building fortifications and supporting military operations from Charleston to New York.
Black soldiers fought alongside British and Loyalist forces in major engagements, not just in support roles. When Francis Marion’s Patriots encountered Black cavalry units, they found themselves facing skilled horsemen who knew the local terrain and fought with the desperation of people whose freedom depended on victory.
The original uniform for the Black Pioneers regiment.
British military records show these soldiers received better treatment than most Black Americans who served the Patriot cause. They were paid as soldiers, not property, and they lived in military camps as free men. When the war ended, thousands evacuated with British forces to Nova Scotia, England, and eventually Sierra Leone, maintaining their freedom.
Continental Army Integration and Black Patriots
The Continental Army did include Black soldiers, but their path to service was far more complicated. Initially banned by Washington, Black Americans were only gradually accepted as manpower shortages became desperate. Even then, their service often came with broken promises.
Rhode Island created an all-Black regiment in 1778, promising freedom to enslaved men who enlisted. These soldiers fought bravely at Newport and served until Yorktown. A French officer described Washington’s army as “speckled” because of racial integration in most units. Black and white soldiers fought side by side in every major battle from Lexington to Yorktown.
Depiction of black soldier from the Rhode Island Regiment at Yorktown, 1781.
But integration didn’t mean equality. Many Black soldiers who served the American cause were returned to slavery after the war. James Lafayette, the spy who helped secure victory at Yorktown, had to petition the Virginia legislature for his freedom years later. Others waited decades for promised manumissions, if they came at all.
The contrast with British treatment was stark. While American Black soldiers faced uncertain futures, those who evacuated with British forces began new lives as free people in British territories worldwide.
Revolutionary War’s Racial Reality
The real story of Black Americans in the Revolution exposes the central lie of July 4th mythology. This was a war between two colonial powers, with Black Americans forced to choose which offered them the better chance at liberation.
James Lafayette, Revolutionary War spy returned to slavery after victory.
Most chose Britain because British promises, however strategically motivated, were more reliable than American promises of universal liberty that explicitly excluded them. The numbers tell the story. Roughly 20,000 Black Americans sided with Britain versus 8,000 with the Patriots, a ratio of about 2.5 to 1.
Those who chose America often did so hoping the revolution’s ideals would eventually include them. Some northern states did begin gradual emancipation after the war. But many Black Patriots died still enslaved, having bet their lives on a freedom that never materialized.
The thousands who evacuated with British forces were refugees from American slavery, seeking the liberty that the “land of the free” denied them. They established some of the first large-scale free Black communities in the Atlantic world, from Nova Scotia to Sierra Leone.
Modern Implications of Hidden History
Every July 4th, America celebrates a sanitized version of its founding that erases the choices Black Americans actually made when freedom was on the line. We’re told to honor the founders’ vision of liberty while ignoring that most Black Americans who lived through the Revolution judged that vision inadequate and chose differently.
Black Loyalists evacuating to Nova Scotia with British forces, 1783.
The same mythology that turns a slaveholding revolution into a pure freedom struggle shapes how we understand racial justice today. When we pretend the founding was about universal liberty rather than white independence, we make current racial inequalities seem like deviations from American values rather than continuations of them.
So tomorrow, when the fireworks light up the sky and the speeches celebrate American liberty, remember the 20,000 Black Americans who saw through the contradiction and chose differently. They understood that freedom isn’t about what flag you salute, but whether that flag represents your liberation or your continued oppression.
The British offered imperfect freedom, but it was freedom nonetheless. America offered perfect rhetoric about liberty while maintaining perfect bondage. For Black Americans in 1776, the choice was obvious, even if it meant fighting against the country that would eventually, grudgingly, centuries later, acknowledge their humanity.
But here’s the grim reality: stories like these 20,000 Black Americans who fought for British freedom are being systematically erased from American classrooms and museums.
Right now, state legislatures are banning discussions of how enslaved people made rational choices about which side offered real liberation. School boards are removing any Revolutionary War content that complicates the “patriots vs. tyrants” narrative.
Even the Smithsonian, which published research on Black British soldiers just months ago, is now facing pressure to present a “more patriotic” version of American history. The same institutions that should preserve these complex truths are proving they can’t withstand political demands for sanitized history.
The reality is stark: we need independent historians documenting these stories before they disappear entirely from public memory.
Thanks for reading Capturing Voices! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
