History. Love. Action-packed flight sequences.

That is just some of what can be expected from the movie, Red Tails.

Based on true events, the film tells the story of the Tuskegee Airmen – the first all-black squadron of fighter pilots during World War II. Though their skin color made them inferior in the eyes of their white counterparts, their talent, bravery and service to their country made them heroes.

Before 1940, African-Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military, according to Tuskegee Airmen Inc., www.tuskegeeairmen.org. Pressure from civil-rights organizations and the black press led to the formation of an all African-American pursuit squadron based in Tuskegee, Ala. in 1941. They became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Produced by George Lucas – famous for his Star Wars films – the movie shares the friendships between the soldiers, the struggle for acceptance and the triumph that resulted from their perseverance.

I went to see the film while visiting my fiancé in San Francisco. I thought it was a powerful representation of history, a thorough expression of respect for the men portrayed and an overall good story.

One day after seeing the film, my fiancé ran into a member of the University of San Francisco staff. At first, we didn’t know the woman, who noticed I was wrapping my scarf around my ears as if I was still in Minnesota.

She – and we – decided to say hello.

We struck up polite conversation. She asked if we were students. I explained my fiancé was a student and I was just visiting for the weekend.

Her name is Jeanne Powell. She works in the university’s Upward Bound program. She is an author, poet, teacher and publisher.

As we stood in the stairwell, we eventually started talking about the movie, Red Tails. She of course had seen it and said it is vital that once one goes to see it, to tell their friends, church groups or book clubs to go see it as well. The success of the film will help chart the course for the next effort.

“Without history, we are slaves,” Powell said.

I understood this to mean without knowing the past, there is no way to understand the present or prepare for the future. History is a part of the very fabric that shapes a community. Without it, we cannot progress.

While the African-American community has made some profound strides throughout time – including in the movie industry – it cannot be ignored Red Tails’ director Lucas had to put up $93 million of his own money to make this movie. No Hollywood distributor would back it due to cost, some media reports said, thus showing there is still work to do. Lucas had been working to get the film made for more than two decades.

The movie, which stars Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., Nate Parker and David Oyelowo, garnered about $20 million at the box office during the film’s opening weekend.

It really is worth the movie ticket.