Black History Month was first celebrated in 1970, endorsing a reflective examination of Black achievements. This week, we mark the occasion by soaring high with America’s first female U-2 spy plane pilot and digging deep into issues that have caused tension in the US intelligence community. We’re also celebrating some of Hollywood’s leading Black actors who have broken records and barriers.
Colonel Merryl Tengesdal has the need for speed. The Bronx-born military officer is the first Black woman to pilot the U-2 Dragon Lady spy plane. After a stint in the Navy, she transferred to the Air Force and logged more than 3,400 flight hours. Tengesdal has navigated many difficult situations, but even she didn’t foresee saying ‘No’ to Steven Spielberg while filming Bridge of Spies.
The story of Black WWII code breakers is infuriating and inspiring, set against the backdrop of a segregated era. For the most part, signals intelligence reflected the divisions but the war ushered in radical changes. It empowered female cryptanalysts and men like Carl Dodd who moved from North Carolina to avoid the Ku Klux Klan and found a new destiny in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer.
Former CIA officer Jeffrey Sterling was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2015 for violating the Espionage Act by leaking details of a top-secret operation to a journalist - a charge he has always denied. Jeffrey believes he was a victim of discrimination and that his complaints made him a target but the US government and courts disagree. In our True Spies podcast, Jeffrey lays out his case.
Undercover FBI Agent Robert Wittman has a rule of thumb for greeting out-of-town targets: meet them at the airport so they’re less likely to have a weapon. That’s how Wittman found himself at Philadelphia International in 1998, greeting a crooked Civil Rights collector peddling a near-sacred artifact in African American history - the stolen battle flag of the 12th Regiment Infantry, Corps d'Afrique.
US intelligence agencies have had a tense relationship with some African-Americans in the past from the Black Panther Party to French Resistance spy Josephine Baker, a singer and entertainer who left the US for France and found herself on an FBI Watch List. These 13 profound works explore the clandestine challenges in the march for equality and civil rights.
Hollywood has seen a remarkable rise in the prominence of Black actors and actresses in the spy and superhero genres, bringing diversity and exceptional talent to the forefront from Spider-man’s Zendaya to Angela Bassett who finally collected her Oscar this year. Many have not only brought depth and nuance to movies but have broken barriers.
At SPY HQ you’ll explore hidden worlds, break codes, run surveillance and spot liars - while a system developed with MI6 experts reveals your personal spy role and profile.
