Using the backdrop of James Baldwin's "Nobody Knows My Name" and Baldwin's feelings that Blacks were ashamed of where they came from, Terkel interviews Professor and Chairman of the Political Science Department of Roosevelt University on his book coauthored with Stokely Carmichael entitled" Black Power: Politics of Liberation in America". Hamilton states that Blacks were taught to hate themselves and leave school believing that. Institutional racism and the deliberate oppression it creates, holds blacks back. Blacks are left out of crucial decision making processes that concern them.

According to Paul Chevigny’s book, “Police Power: Police Abuses in New York," disobeying the police is what precipitated violence. Chevigny explained some of the police felt if they had to deal with the undesirables, whether they were criminals or not, anything goes on the street to get these guys and anything goes in court to make a conviction stick.

Poet Maya Angelou and journalist Tom Wicker discuss life in the U.S. South and how the region’s history has shaped its culture. Topics of discussion include social dynamics and race in the South, the concept of “home” and what it means to return to one’s roots, and religion in the South. Angelou reads excerpts of her poetry, including “Still I Rise” and “Phenomenal Woman,” and shares spiritual songs from her childhood.

Discussing "Distortions of Negro History" and interviewing Lerone Bennett, Jr., John Hope Franklin and Hoyt Fuller.

What started out as a 5-piece article on health care became Laurie Abraham's book, "Mama Might Be Better Off Dead: The Failure of Health Care in Urban America". Through her stories, Abraham points out the many hardships and catch-22 scenarios of some poor families. One woman, after caring for her mother all day, Julie, wanted to work part time in the evenings. However, she soon learned that she'd be making too much money and she'd no longer be eligible for Medicaid for herself and her children.

Events not recorded in history books is what prompted John D. Weaver to write "The Brownsville Raid: The Story of America's Black Dreyfus Affair". Weaver had heard the story of Black Army soldiers causing a raucous, when they were actually set up. Without even being granted a trial, President Theodore Roosevelt, dismissed those soldiers from the United States Army, Weaver explained.

Interviewing novelist and fighter for civil rights for all, James Baldwin and discussion on the book "Nobody Knows My Name more notes of a native son". They discuss the book and Mr. Baldwin's political beliefs and his work towards change in the civil rights movement.

John Baldwin talks about his book "The Evidence of Things Not Seen" in which discusses the Wayne Williams Atlanta child murders of 1979-1981. This record is part of the Studs Terkel Almanac.

Discussing the book "Race hoss: big Emma's boy" with the author Albert Race Sample. Includes Sample reading a section of the book.

Interviewing in Montgomery, Alabama, with Kathy and John Beecher [Beecher program begins at 28:29] (part 4).

Edward W. Said talks about the importance of language in shifting perceptions of Middle Eastern people, refutes some opinions about Palestine, identities, and overlapping Eastern and Western cultures.

Discussing the book "A man's life" with the author Roger Wilkins.

Anna Deavere Smith discusses and demonstrates her unique character portrayals from her works "Fires in the Mirror" and "Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992."