The video features a retired United States Air Force officer sharing her journey and experiences in the military, particularly focusing on the challenges faced due to racial discrimination and the struggle for equality within the armed forces. She highlights her personal story, growing up in military families, facing prejudices, and eventually commanding Maxwell Air Force Base, drawing inspiration from historical figures like Rosa Parks. Her leadership role involved unveiling a sculpture honoring Rosa Parks and taking steps to promote racial equality and justice.

The speaker reflects on historical and present-day racial injustices in the military, referencing executive orders desegregating the military and subsequent events that showed the gap between policy and practice. She emphasizes the importance of continued efforts towards equal opportunities for all in the military, recounting the influence of civil rights leaders and military figures who have paved the way for progress. Her own actions as a commander at Maxwell aimed to further this cause and set an example.

Main takeaways from the video:

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The struggle for racial equality in the military remains ongoing, despite past efforts like Executive Order 9981.
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Leadership roles carry the responsibility to address and challenge existing prejudices and facilitate systemic changes.
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Every individual has the potential to contribute to greater freedom and equality, similar to historical figures who inspired change.
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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. desegregating [ˌdiːsɛˈɡreɪtɪŋ] - (verb) - The act of ending the separation of races or ethnic groups within an institution or community. - Synonyms: (integrating, unifying, incorporating)

I was able to serve because President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military.

2. adversity [ədˈvɜːrsəti] - (noun) - A difficult or unpleasant situation, often seen as a hardship that tests one's ability to endure. - Synonyms: (hardship, challenge, difficulty)

That same adversity with every achievement.

3. resounding [rɪˈzaʊndɪŋ] - (adjective) - A sound or message that is loud and emphatic, leaving a strong or overwhelming impression. - Synonyms: (emphatic, decisive, forceful)

I feared going to school, but my mother would respond with a resounding no

4. manifesto [ˌmænɪˈfɛstəʊ] - (noun) - A public declaration of intentions, motives, or views, especially one issued by a political party or government. - Synonyms: (proclamation, declaration, statement)

When I arrive, I take command from a building named after an Alabama senator who signed the Southern manifesto to block brown versus Board of education integrated schools.

5. resonate [ˈrɛzəˌneɪt] - (verb) - To evoke a feeling of shared emotion or belief to amplify emotional responses or understanding. - Synonyms: (echo, reverberate, connect)

The sculpture simply read Maxwell Air Force Base changed Rosa Parks.

6. endorse [ɪnˈdɔːrs] - (verb) - To openly support or approve of someone or something, often officially or publicly. - Synonyms: (support, approve, sanction)

It was not enough that the top Air Force generals endorsed.

7. evoke [ɪˈvoʊk] - (verb) - To bring or recall to the conscious mind, especially emotions or memories. - Synonyms: (invoke, elicit, conjure)

Each piece looks like a weapon standing up.

8. perseverance [ˌpɜːrsəˈvɪərəns] - (noun) - Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. - Synonyms: (persistence, determination, tenacity)

After a career of hustling for acceptance and approval, of constantly proving I'm worthy of pushing up against glass ceilings.

9. narrative [ˈnærətɪv] - (noun) - A spoken or written account of connected events; a story which can further a particular perspective. - Synonyms: (story, account, tale)

That same narrative of inferiority.

10. aspired [əˈspaɪərd] - (verb) - To have strong ambitions or plans to achieve a particular goal higher than the current status. - Synonyms: (aim, desire, strive)

To command a military base is an incredible honor, one many aspire to, but few are trusted to do in the Air force.

Stunning Truths About the Freedom to Serve - Colonel Eries Mentzer - TEDxJacksonville

Hi. I know what you're thinking. Aries. That's a horoscope. But I'm more named for Aries, the Greek God of war, or in my case, goddess. And being named for a goddess of war is fitting because for the last three decades, I've been among the 1% who serve in our nation's military. And I stand before you today as United States Air Force, retired. Thank you. No more combat boots.

All right, so I love the military. I've traveled the world. I've got to defend freedom. The Air Force has paid for my college, two master's degrees and. And my son will go to college on my GI Bill. I love the military. And I was able to serve because President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 desegregating the military. And in 2025, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of his freedom to serve, his founding ideals of equal treatment and and opportunity in our military. And while serving my nation has been exhilarating, I am equally exhausted proving I am worthy. I'm exhausted fighting for the right to fight in our nation's military.

You see, a long standing presumption of guilt and narrative of inferiority for people like me limits our ability to rise to our full military potential. And with historic low recruiting and retention right now, and challenges to global world order and peace, we need all of America's talent for democracy to win. Every American needs the freedom to serve. This idea of the freedom to serve first came about for me when my dad was assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. When I was a kid growing up on Navy bases in California and Virginia, as one of the few or only families that looked like us, I remember no sense of difference. But at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, I was brutally made aware of my difference.

You see, Montgomery is the tale of two cities. One that celebrates the civil rights and one that celebrates the Confederacy. And for this little black girl, this triggered trauma in my family's daily life. I feared going to school, but my mother would respond with a resounding no. She would demand that I take my rightful place at school, be seen, heard, and educated. And when my dad's Alabama tour was over, I said, I'm never coming back to Maxwell Air Force Base.

Fast forward about 30 years, and the Air Force exclaims, congratulations. You will command Maxwell Air Force Base. Not the gift I expected. I literally could not breathe. That scared little black girl re emerged. To command a military base is an incredible honor, one many aspire to, but few are trusted to do in the Air force. Less than 2% of black women even make colonel. I would be the first black woman to command Maxwell Air Force Base. This was huge. Thank you. Thank you. This was extraordinary. But could I do it?

I reached for the most positive thing from my Montgomery childhood. My mother's book, Rosa My story. And there it was. On page 65, Rosa Parks says. You might just say maxwell Air Force Base opened my eyes. It was an alternative to the ugly policies of Jim Crow you see in World War II. Long before the Montgomery bus boycott, Rosa Parks worked on Maxwell Air Force Base. She and her husband Raymond would take a segregated bus through Montgomery. But once on Maxwell, they had the freedom to ride. This opened their eyes to what was possible for Montgomery and America. And in that moment, I knew if Rosa Parks could see better and lead better from being at Maxwell Air Force Base, I could too.

So to prepare for command, I began to explore this difference between Rosa Parks freedoms on base and off base during World War II. This led me to an article by an army soldier, James Thompson. He questioned, is the America that I know worth fighting for? His article launched a double V campaign, double victory, with the hopes for black Americans by securing a victory overseas against fascism that they would earn more victory, freedom and justice, democracy at home.

I then learned the story of Sergeant Isaac Woodard. That a South Carolina police chief brutally beat sergeant Woodard in broad daylight, nearly to death while wearing his army uniform. The police chief would take his nightstick and gouge out Sergeant Woodard's eyes. He would never see again. This gets to President Truman, and he is horrified. And so he did what he could do. He signed Executive Order 9808, the Freedom from fear, and launched the first civil rights commission to understand the treatment of black Americans. He became the first president to attend the NAACP to get some feedback. And with that feedback, he signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the military, launched the Freedom to Serve report with the hopes that the military could lead America on equal treatment opportunity.

But President Truman's orders were not enough. And just before I depart for Command, May of 2020, America is again awakened to the brutality against black Americans. The Air Force releases a racial disparity report. It highlights that they have been continually punishing black airmen at much higher rates than white. My leadership assures me life at Maxwell Air Force Base has changed. When I arrive, I take command from a building named after an Alabama senator who signed the Southern manifesto to block brown versus Board of education integrated schools. At the same time, there's an assault on our U.S. capitol. The Secretary of defense has to order a stand down of all of the military because of extremism in our ranks.

On Martin Luther King Day, the holiday in Alabama, which is equally Robert E. Lee Day in Alabama, I stand on the same steps where Dr. King stood following his march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights. Both he and I speak on those steps of freedom, justice and equality while being overshadowed by the grand Confederate statues in front of the Capitol. On the fourth of July, in the city's parade marches the sons of the Confederacy to cheering crowds. While my son and I are driving, a man in a Confederate ski mask tries to aggressively run us off the road.

I drive all of Maxwell Air Force Base. I look at every street name, every statue, every building. There was no sign that Rosa Parks was ever here. So on 1December 2020, the 65th anniversary of her bus arrest, I unveil the Rosa Parks opening eye sculpture at Maxwell Air Force Base. It's what I could do. The sculpture stands in the spot where she worked during World War II. It was made by a Montgomery airman. Each piece is made out of black powder coated steel, a highly durable material. In high contrast against its natural background, just like Rosa Parks had to be, each piece looks like a weapon standing up. Because Rosa Parks was a weapon for change. You can't tell it's her face that forms the sculpture until you are centered in front of evolves as you approach it, Just as she had to evolve in her life as an activist. The marker inspires the idea. If a woman of little position and little power can change our nation for the better, what can you do?

It would not be long before this little black girl was again brutally made aware of her difference. For this statue, complaints emerged that I was a racist, that I hated white men, that I abused my authority, and that I misused government funds. It was not enough that the top Air Force generals endorsed. Was not enough that the woman in the picture closest to it, our secretary of the Air Force, flew in to stand with me to unveil it. There it was again, that same presumption of guilt, that same narrative of inferiority, that same adversity with every achievement.

After a career of hustling for acceptance and approval, of constantly proving I'm worthy of pushing up against glass ceilings while quietly healing my cuts after persisting through belittling and aggression, toxicity and sexual predators and going back to the place of my greatest trauma. They told me to put this in here and dab not to wipe. But I got this I got this going back to the place of my greatest trauma and putting service before self. I still was. Not enough.

An investigation launched, and with two lawyers, I responded with a resounding no. Maxwell had opened my eyes. And so, like President Truman, I acted. I launched the Freedom to Serve Champions, a group to hear my people's concerns and bring me solutions that I could action for greater treatment and equal opportunity at Maxwell Air force Base, challenging each of my airmen. What can you do?

I wrote a letter from a Montgomery commander modeled after Dr. King's letter from a Birmingham jail. It challenged Pentagon officials to to update the 2018 letter to governors and leverage the economic power of our bases to improve the communities where we serve. To the Pentagon, what can you do? I combed out my hair into all its full Afro glory just to compel bald Pentagon generals to update our combat cap. It reduced hair loss, headaches and painful service so more airmen could have the freedom to serve. To our generals, what can you do?

I launched a second marker to inspire for Sharon Frontiero, a lieutenant who hired ACLU lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg to sue the Secretary of Defense when military policy paid married women less than married men. If a lieutenant has the courage, one of our most junior ranking people has the courage to sue the Secretary of Defense and win for equal pay. What can you do? And when our president awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the 6/4 8th Central Postal Directory Battalion, the only all black, all female unit to serve overseas During World War II, I led a community wide celebration for the oldest living member, private Rene Davis.

At 102, she and the 855 women of the six triple eighth were finally honored for resolving the Army's crisis of mail. Yeah. If our president has the humility to recognize the accomplishments of Black women even 80 years later, what can you do? And when the highest serving woman in our nation came to Maxwell Air Force Base, I presented her a mini Rosa park sculpture. The sculpture simply read Maxwell Air Force Base changed Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks changed Montgomery, Alabama. Montgomery, Alabama changed America and the world. Paving the way for Vice President Harris. It was a thank you for what she could do.

Thank you. My last official act before retirement was the funeral of Senior Airman Roger Fordson. His mother is with us here today. He was wrongfully killed by a police officer like Sergeant Woodard. This innocent, hopeful, patriotic, rising American who was willing to give his life for our freedoms was denied his freedom to serve. And then I presented a flight suit to a hopeful little kindergartner who dreams of one day flying in the Air Force too, just like Roger. At my retirement I passed her my colonel rank. She's our future and if we act now, by the time she joins and America might just be worthy of her service.

My fellow Americans, the America that I know is worth fighting for but too many are still fighting for that right to fight. So what can you do? You can join the President Truman Library and make this 75th anniversary not a moment but a movement to pave more freedom to serve. And the next time you see a service member, don't just thank us for our service but lean in and find out do we truly have that freedom to serve? I hope today that I've opened your eyes and that you walk out today saying what can I do? And it won't be easy but if you need help you now know a goddess of war who will fight with you and help pave that freedom to serve.

Thank you. Thank you.

EDUCATION, INSPIRATION, LEADERSHIP, MILITARY, RACIAL EQUALITY, ARMED FORCES HISTORY, TEDX TALKS