Black History Month

Winner of numerous awards, most notably the Nobel Prize for Literature, Toni Morrison made it possible for a new generation of African-American writers to have a voice in the mainstream literary dialogue. Her evocative, multi-layered tales illuminate the black experience and have the power to change how readers look at American history. In this program, Morrison explains her statement that "American literature is incoherent without the contribution of African American writers.

Morrison reads from her two novels, "Beloved" and "Jazz" and discusses her views of the contributions made to American literature by the experiences of African Americans.

James Baldwin was at once a major 20th-century American author, a civil rights activist, and a prophetic voice calling Americans, black and white both, to confront their shared racial tragedy. This film biography of Baldwin's life captures the passion of his beliefs with stirring excerpts from his novels and striking archival footage dating from the Harlem Renaissance through to the author's commentary on civil rights to his writing retreats in Istanbul and Europe. Maya Angelou, Amiri Baraka, Ishmael Reed, and William Styron provide insight as the program skillfully links excerpts from Baldwin's major works to different historical stages in black/white dialogue.

This speech/address, given by Maya Angelou, is a reading of her poem at former President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration.