BBH: Red, White and Black…

Good afternoon Nerds! Hope everyone has had a productive weekend. I’ve missed a few days but I’m back on it. To start the week off ( I know it’s Tuesday), let’s go with a Marvel character since Black Panther is coming out this week (can’t wait!). Today we will talk about the Black Captain America…not Falcon.

Isaiah Bradley grew up in New York City. He met a young woman named Faith Shabazz and they were married in 1940 and spent their honeymoon at the Worlds Fair. But it was cut short due to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That is when America joined the war and Isaiah joined the US Army. When he joined the army, they forced him and 300 other African American soldiers to serve as test subjects to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. This fact is a blemish in American history. Black soldiers were actually taken and experimented on; one case was the syphilis experiments during WWII. To keep the operation secret, letters were sent to the men’s families stating that they were killed in action.

Out of the 300 men taken, only a handful survived the experiment. These handful of men became a covert ops team, being sent on missions to assist the Army in perfecting the serum. After a few missions, there were only three left and that dwindled to only Isaiah. Bradley’s last mission was a suicide mission to kill Doctor Kosh and stop the development of the German Super Solider Serum. Before leaving for the mission, Bradley stole the prototype Captain America costume and shield. His mission was successful but he was captured soon after. As he was being transported, he was rescued by a group of German freedom fighters. He returned home months later where he was court martial for stealing the costume (because of course he was).

Isaiah Bradley is a black superhero legend. Seriously a walking legend. At Black Panther and Storm’s wedding, Bradley was present which had the black superheroes shook and honored to be in the presence of a legend. Their white counterparts had no idea who he was but that didn’t matter. 

Let’s appreciate the presence of a literal legend. He was the first black Captain America before Falcon became Captain America. A little side note; as I was researching this character, I stumbled upon another blog post that highlighted Bradley as well. His is a little more detailed than mine and it’s where I obtained the pics shown here. You can find his blog here. That’s all I got for you right now so until next time, Nerd Out!