African Americans

After a traumatic brain injury left her in terrible pain and unable to work, the legendary goalkeeper had to pawn her Olympic gold medals. Scurry charts her pioneering soccer career and her road to recovery in My Greatest Save.

The Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical is about a Black gay man working as an usher on Broadway. Michael R. Jackson talks about writing the book, music and lyrics and how his time working as an usher at The Lion King on Broadway inspired it.

Giddens' Freedom Highway is an exploration of African American experiences, accompanied by an instrument with its own uniquely African American story: the banjo. Originally broadcast May 11, 2017.

The comic, actor and writer opens up about his name, his family tree and his sexual orientation in a new HBO special. "The more honest I am, the freer I am," Carmichael says.

White Lies author A.J. Baime tells the story of Walter White, a light-skinned Black man whose ancestors had been enslaved. For years White risked his life investigating racial violence in the South.

David Blight's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography traced Douglass' path from slavery to abolitionist and inspired HBO's documentary, Frederick Douglass: In Five Speeches. Originally broadcast in 2018.

Spector, who died Jan. 12, was part of the 1960s girl group that gave us "Be My Baby." She left the music business for some years but returned to recording in the 1970s. Originally broadcast in 1988.

The former creative director at Vogue magazine and larger-than-life fashion influencer died Jan. 18. Talley spoke to Fresh Air in 2018 about growing up in Durham, N.C., and discovering fashion.

Parks, who died in 2006, worked for Life magazine and later became the first Black director of a Hollywood film. He's the subject of the documentary, A Choice of Weapons. Originally broadcast in 1990.

The world knows Will Smith as a musician, a comedian and blockbuster movie star — perhaps even the most bankable star in the world. But in his new memoir, called Will, Smith explores another identity, one that has fueled his unwavering work ethic: that of a coward. Smith says that when he was 9, he stood by, watching helplessly as his father beat his mother. It was a moment that shaped his identity.