Gregory S. Cooke, educator, documentary filmmaker, WWII historian on relocating African Americans to the main pages of American and global history

Gregory S. Cooke, MA, is a career educator, documentary filmmaker, and World War II historian, dedicated to helping “relocate African Americans from the margins to the main pages of American and global history.” He is the Founder of the Basil and Becky Educational Foundation (BBEEF), and a recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus, Veterans Braintrust Award for his educational initiatives (2019).

Gregory is the creator of Invisible Warriors: African American Women in World War II, a critically acclaimed, feature-length documentary that explores the wartime experiences of 600,000 “Rosie the Riveters” – “hidden figures” – pioneers who courageously triumph over racism and sexism to create job opportunities in industry and government for themselves and future generations of African American women. Invisible Warriors is an inaugural recipient of the Better Angels/Lavine/Ken Burns Fellowship (2020), and also received the Congressional Black Caucus, Veterans Braintrust Award (2019).

Gregory Cooke has recently appeared in My Father’s War: How Pearl Harbor Transformed America, and World War II Battles in Color: The Bulge – historical documentaries that illuminate African American participation in World War II.

Gregory is the Executive Producer, Producer, and researcher for the documentary, Choc’late Soldiers from the USA, the untold story of 140,000 African American men and women who form an unexpected bond with British civilians during World War II. Choc’late Soldiers received the first ever Congressional Black Caucus Veterans Braintrust Award for film in 2014, and won filmawards at Indiefest and Bakersfield, 2013.

Gregory earned a B.A. in English, American International College, and a M.A. in Journalism, The Ohio State University. Gregory mentors about a dozen former students and teaches them the ways of “The Force.”

 

Host/producer:  Donna Morrow Wolfe

Co-host: Karen E. Griffin

Engineer: Kate Redman


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