A lot of us grow up learning about our family history and where we come from. It gives you a sense of who paved the way for you to be here. Archietta James, a Langston Alumni who lives in Garland, Texas, is one of very few others who is a living descendant of an original Black Cavalry Troop soldier, better known as “Buffalo Soldiers.” Her Great Grandfather is Francis Clinton one of the original buffalo soldiers. She has written a book on her Great Grandfather called “Francis Clinton a Buffalo Soldier and American Hero.” James said that her aunt and uncle were the ones who encouraged her to write a book about her Great Grandfather and that God was the one who showed her the way to make it happen. James is also a part of a documentary film with Langston student Kesean Clevland. Kesean is a Senior Broadcast Journalism Major who is one of the students responsible for the creation of LU Boys, which is a tik tok page and YouTube series that is filled with Langston football content. He has spent the last couple of months working with James on a documentary film about Francis Clinton and the buffalo soldiers. The documentary follows James and her families experience going to the original fort where Francis Clinton served. According to Cleveland, “I haven’t had much experience with making these types of films, but it’s been a great experience and Mrs. James has made me feel like family throughout the whole process.”
James was told by her grandmother and her mother about who her Great Grandfather was, and her mother always kept his enlistment document in her bible to remind her of family history. James would do lots of research trying to find information about her Great Grandfather and the buffalo soldiers but couldn’t find much about her history. James, however, didn’t let that stop her from finding out more about her Great Grandfather. She toured some of the Forts that the Original Buffalo soldiers lived in to find out more information. One of the Forts Mrs. James visited was Fort Concho in San Angelo, Texas and Fort
Leavenworth in Kansas. Fort Leavenworth is the location seen in the documentary and is the base where Clinton was first trained and stationed as a buffalo soldier. James described the experience as eye opening and that it gave her goosebumps to be standing in the same places where her Great Grandfather served his people and his country. “It was the experience of a lifetime” for James to finally learn about a part of her Great Grandfather’s life and get answers about who he was and who the buffalo soldiers were. James accredits the trips to being t the spark she needed to continue her research about the Black Cavalry Troops. Till this day James is still on the search for more answers about who and what happened to the Buffalo Soldiers. James isn’t done and says a fire has been lit for her to keep going and to want to know more.
TJ Cephers
Staff Writer
TJ Cephers is a junior broadcast journalism major.
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