‘It’s like a big family reunion’: National Association of Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club in Mobile

MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — The National Association Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club convention is in downtown Mobile until Saturday.

“It’s like a big family reunion,” Biker Pink Panther said.

The club has over 120 chapters from all over the world including chapters in Hawaii and South Korea. Every member has the common goal to educate the world on the history and importance of the 9th and 10th Cavalry of Buffalo Soldiers who served in the U.S. Army.

The Buffalo Soldiers were an all-African American team sent to the western frontier following the Civil War from 1866 to 1944.

“They sent them out west to escort wagon trains and protect the people on the plains out there,” Greensboro, North Carolina chapter Vice President Terry Hodge said. “The Indians gave them the name of Buffalo Soldiers because of the wooly hair and the voracity of which they fought.”

The motorcycle club uses their bikes as a symbol to represent the Buffalo Soldiers.

“The Buffalo Soldiers of 1866 rode horses,” Pink Panther said. “We ride our iron horses to commemorate them.”

Pink Panther has been a full-patch member of the Buffalo Soldiers motorcycle club since April 2021. She was inspired to join because of one soldier in particular.

“There was actually one female in the Buffalo soldiers named Cathay Williams,” Pink Panther said.

Cathay Williams enlisted in 1866 under the false name of “Willam Cathay” and passed herself as a man. She was honorably discharged in 1868 after being outed as a female.

This story continues to inspire Pink Panther.

“She paved the way for women like me to be motorcycle riders and to be equal, just as equal to the men,” Pink Panther said.

Not only are these motorcyclists teaching the community about the rich history, but they are also serving the community and those in need.

“We go around talking about the history of Buffalo Soldiers,” Biker Roosevelt Brown said. “We do a lot of charitable work in our community, and we get to enjoy our motorcycles.”

The Buffalo Soldiers and Troopers Motorcycle Club will be in Africatown on Saturday to donate canned foods.

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