African-American Issues

Chapmyn was homeless, surviving on garbage and sleeping in vacant buildings in the '80's. A suicide note he began writing to his mother inspired him to write the play "Our Young Black Men Are Dying and Nobody Seems to Care," which became a big hit on the so-called chitlin circuit. He went on to write other plays on social issues facing the African-American community., making a name for himself as a playwright and a social activist.

Richburg is the Hong Kong bureau chief for the "Washington Post," the paper's former Africa bureau chief, and has won awards for his reporting, including being selected as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In his new book "Out of America," he reflects on his three years experience in Africa and questions the connections made between the identity of African-Americans and their African roots.

Gates is the W.E.B. DuBois Professor of Humanities and chair of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Harvard University as well as a staff writer for "The New Yorker." In his new book, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Black Man," Gates records the thoughts of some of society's most revered black American men. The men debate the current state of black men and the difficulties of race and gender relations in American society.

Massiah is founder and Executive Director of the Scribe Video Center in Philadelphia. He has won numerous awards for the films he has produced for public television. Messiah's latest project is a documentary featuring the late civil rights activist and NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois, called "W.E.B. DuBois: A Biography in Four Voices." It premiers on PBS this month.

Rock is 26 years-old and grew up in Brooklyn. He got his start in show business performing stand-up comedy routines in Manhattan. He spent three years on "Saturday Night Live" and appeared in a few films, including the recent "Beverly Hills Ninja." He has a new comedy and talk-show series, "The Chris Rock Show," premiering February 7 on HBO.

A broadcast of the debate between playwright August Wilson and critic Robert Brustein over multiculturalism and the theater. The discussion is moderated by actress, playwright, and performance artist Anna Deavere Smith. Wilson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and author of the play "Fences," says the modern theater system jeopardizes the values of black actors because it is dominated by white society. Brustein, the American Repertory Theater's artistic director and the theater critic of "The New Republic," claims Wilson's ideas encourage black separatism.

As the Ebonics controversy continues into its second month, linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on standard English.

William Labov teaches at the University of Pennsylvania discusses Ebonics. He's been studying Black English for 30 years and traced the rules governing Black and White English. He also examined the differences between the two and explored the roots of the changes taking place in the languages.

Commentator Gerald Early considers the past and future of Fisk University.

Higginbotham served in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He's an expert on race and the legal process and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His new book is "Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of the American Legal Process"

Linguist Geoff Nunberg looks at the current debate surrounding black vernacular in school, which the Oakland school board has dubbed "Ebonics."

The Fresh Air commentator has been writing about the historically black institution, where he currently teachers, and shares these thoughts.

Film critic John Powers reviews the new, socially-conscious film "Set it Off" directed by F. Gary Gray, who directed "Friday." It's about four black women who plot a bank robbery.

Commentator Gerald Early reflects on the black community and historically black colleges and universities.

Part three of Ed Ward's series on the history of the blues. He talks about how the realities of post-war life changed the trajectory of the genre.

Film critic John Powers reviews Spike Lee's new film, "Get On the Bus," about the recent Million Man March in Washington, D.C.

Young talks with Terry Gross about his new book "An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights Movement and the Transformation of America." He served as Executive Director of Southern Christian Leadership Conference where he worked with Martin Luther King Jr. In 1972, he was elected to Congress. In 1977, President Carter named Young as Ambassador to the United Nations. He also served two terms as the Mayor of Atlanta.

Historian and author Nell Irvin Painter is a Professor of American History at Princeton University. She's written a biography of the ex-slave and fiery abolitionist who was born Isabella Van Wagenen and rechristened herself Sojourner Truth, called "Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol."

Washington Post reporter Leon Dash won a Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for his eight part series "Rosa Lee's Story." He has turned that into the new book ,"Rosa Lee: A Mother and Her Family in Urban America." It shows Lee's day to day life in one of Washington D.C.'s poorest neighborhoods.

The former Chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus was a five-term U.S Congressman for Maryland, and is of the most respected African American politicians. Earlier this year he was appointed the head of the NAACP. He has a new memoir, "No Free Ride: From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream."