By Brianna Holcomb
Arts and Entertainment Editor

As a part of Celebrating Black History Month Hofstra’s NAACP, New Opportunities At Hofstra Program (N.O.A.H), and Xi Psi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. brought the play “Black Angels Over Tuskegee” to the Helene Fortunoff Theater on Feb. 6.

This play is running on its 6th year off Broadway and features Hofstra alumnus Lamar Cheston. He is not only an alumni of Hofstra University but also a member of the N.O.A.H Program and the Xi Psi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha.

“Black Angels Over Tuskegee” tells the story of  the 100th regiment of the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen was a segregated regiment of African-American soldiers that were trained to fly and maintain combat aircrafts. The training center was located in Tuskegee, Ala hence the name.

Mr. Cheston plays Theodore one of the six men accepted into the 100th regiment of Tuskegee Airmen.The two-hour play follows Theodore and the other men on their journey and fight, to become members of the U.S Air Force to be able to defend their country.

The play depicts the hardships the men faced while trying to pursue their goals of flying a plane. Each man has a unique back story which each actor portrayed through a large amount of emotion,storytelling and a few humorous moments.

These characters were more than just African American men trying to learn about flying a plane: They were men with goals and aspirations which stemmed from being told they could not be taught something. Each character’s resilience and determination powered them through the unfair treatment to reach their end goal.