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

Sandra Lieb discusses the book "Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey." Includes songs sung by Ma Rainey such as "Runaway Blues," "See See Rider," "Moonshine Blues," and "Oh, Papa Blues." Includes poem "Ma Rainey" by Sterling Brown. Includes "Oh, Daddy," by Ethel Waters. Includes "Young Woman's Blues" by Bessie Smith.

Program includes an excerpt of a reading of "This Little Light of Mine" by Kay Mills.

Discussing the book "The courting of Marcus DuPree" with the author Willie Morris.

Discussing the book "Race Hoss: Big Emma's Boy" with the author Albert Race Sample. Includes Sample reading a section of the book.Content Warning: This conversation has the presence of outdated, biased, or offensive language. Rather than remove this content, we present it in the context of twentieth-century social history to acknowledge and learn from its impact and to inspire awareness and discussion.*Please note: some sections have been edited out from the original recording due to copyright considerations 

"Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies and Bucks: An Interpretive History of Blacks in American Films is Donald Bogle's study of Black actors and the roles they played in movies. Bogle believed it was important for Black people to see Black heroes in movies. Bogle concluded there were too few roles available for Black actors and too many roles were of stereotypes.

James Baldwin discusses his book "Another Country" and his trip to Africa. Mr.Baldwin and Studs speak about his place in social reform and his fight for civil rights for all.