Before the U.S. was a global military superpower, there was General John "Black Jack" Pershing, the man who shaped what American military leadership looks like to this day. Pershing's Paths of Glory traces his extraordinary career from the frontier to the trenches of WWI, examining both his strategic genius and the deep racial contradictions built into his story: commanding the celebrated Buffalo Soldiers within a military committed to segregation. History that actually makes you think, with echoes that are impossible to ignore in the present day.

Why This Film Matters: The United States military has long presented itself as a meritocracy, and the story of the Buffalo Soldiers, Black soldiers who served with distinction while being denied the rights they were fighting to protect, exposes the lie at the heart of that claim. Pershing's story forces a confrontation with how American institutions can celebrate the service of marginalized groups while systematically excluding them from full citizenship. As the military continues to grapple with issues of equity, sexual violence, and institutional racism, looking honestly at its history is not nostalgia. It's accountability.