September 1st in Black History - Daniel "Chappie" James Jr.

Sankofa Chronicles: A Black History Podcast · Sep 1, 2026 · 4m

On September 1, 1975, Daniel "Chappie" James Jr. was promoted to four-star general in the U.S. Air Force — the first Black American to reach that rank in any branch of the military. From the segregated South to commanding NORAD, this episode traces how a sharecropper's son who learned to fly at Tuskegee rose to the highest rank the military had to offer.Sources: U.S. Department of Defense; Official U.S. Air Force Biography (AF.mil); National Museum of the United States Air Force; Air Force Magazine; Britannica; National Museum of the United States Army; Stanford University King Institute.