Vietnam and Black America

Join us for a compelling conversation with award-winning journalist and bestselling writer Wil Haygood (author of The Butler) as he discusses his latest book, The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home (out February 10, 2026). Haygood reframes the Vietnam War not simply as a foreign conflict, but as a crucible in which the fight for civil rights followed Black Americans from the streets of the United States into the jungles of Southeast Asia. Drawing on deep research and vivid personal stories, he traces the lives of Black soldiers, airmen, doctors, nurses, journalists, and activists who fought simultaneously against enemy forces abroad and systemic racism at home. In The War Within a War, readers encounter figures both famous and obscure: from an Air Force pilot POW and a frontline surgeon to Marvin Gaye and Martin Luther King, Jr. The goal is to illuminate how this dual struggle reshaped both the war and the American conscience. This book goes beyond military history to explore how race and war intersected in ways that still echo in American life. Haygood’s narrative brings urgency and humanity to a chapter of the Vietnam era that reshapes our understanding of service, sacrifice, and the unfinished fight for equality. Join us to hear from one of America’s most insightful chroniclers of Black experience and national history, and to engage with the stories that still reverberate a half-century later. We’re grateful to UPMC for Life  for sponsoring this event!