Opha Mae Johnson, the first African-American female Marine, enlisted in 1949. Today, the Corps is specifically looking to add more sisters to their ranks.

A new ad is targeting multicultural Marine recruits, primarily African American women. Advertising and marketing firm UniWorld, an African American ad agency partnered with JWT to create the “Fighting With Purpose” campaign, which features 1st Lieutenant Drexel King and Captain Monica Meese. The Marines are acknowledging the influx of African Americans entering military service, stating, “In the last fiscal year, 4.7% of those joining as Marine Corps officers were African American and 8.4% were Hispanic.”

The Marine Corps now has 10% African American and 12.9% Hispanic enrollment, according to The Los Angeles Times. Women make up about 7 percent of the Corps;  it is believed that women and people of color are attracted by the Marines Corps’ tradition of being ‘first to fight,’ and it’s involvement in humanitarian missions.

Of the 167,000 enlisted women in the United States Military, 31 percent are Black. “Black women are enlisting in the military at far higher rates than are White or Hispanic women, and they now represent nearly a third of all the women in the armed forces,” according to Pew Research Center reports.

Do you think more Black women will be compelled to join the Marine Corps? Sound off!