Joel Christian Gill On the Importance Of Discussing 'Uncelebrated Narratives'

Cathay Williams was the only known female buffalo soldier.

Eugene Bullard was the first African-American fighter pilot. And Mary Fields was the first African-American woman to carry the mail -- and she did so on the treacherous Star Route in Montana.

These are just some of the stories told in Joel Christian Gill's "Strange Fruit Volume II: More Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History," which will be released on Feb. 1.

Gill joins us to talk about the stories included in the volume, and about why it is important to include these histories in the American narrative.

Joel Christian Gill is the author of "Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History Volumes I" and II and "Tales of the Talented Tenth." He is also the chair of foundations at the New Hampshire Institute of Art and a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable.