African American issues
'Just Mercy' Attorney Asks U.S. To Reckon With Its Racist Past And Present
Bryan Stevenson has fought for racial justice within the justice system for over 20 years. His memoir Just Mercy has been adapted into a new film. Now Stevenson wants the U.S. to reckon with its racist past.
'Fresh Air' Favorites: Ta-Nehisi Coates
This week, we're listening back to some favorite Fresh Air interviews from the past decade. In 2015 Coates spoke about growing up in Baltimore and facing threats from both the streets and the police.
In 'Heaven, My Home' Attica Locke Shows A Part Of Texas We Don't Usually See
Locke says her new novel "was about place before it was about a character." The story follows a black ranger who patrols East Texas searching for the missing son of an Aryan Brotherhood leader.
Ta-Nehisi Coates On Magic, Memory And The Underground Railroad
After writing three non-fiction books dealing with race and identity, and relaunching Marvel's black superhero series Black Panther, Ta-Nehisi Coates has written his first novel. Set during slave times, it re-imagines leaders of the underground railroad as having a magical power to help people out of slavery.
Henry Louis Gates Jr. Points To Reconstruction As The Genesis Of White Supremacy
Gates says white supremacy was born in the years after the Civil War, as white Southerners looked for ways to roll back the newly acquired rights of African-Americans. His new book is Stony the Road.
'Guide To Freedom' Documentary Chronicles The Real Life 'Green Book'
Filmmaker Yoruba Richen's documentary, The Green Book: Guide to Freedom, tells the story of the manual that helped African-Americans find safe places to stay, eat, shop and do business on the road.
Novelist Esi Edugyan On Depicting The 'Forgotten Figures' Of Scientific History
Edugyan's latest novel, Washington Black, tells the story of a boy who escapes slavery and embarks on a voyage of scientific discovery. It has been shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize.
Comic W. Kamau Bell On The 'Shades Of America' And Not Feeling 'Black Enough'
Bell's CNN series is nominated for three 2018 Emmy awards. He talks about his genealogy and why he likes the word "negro" in an excerpt of this 2018 interview with Terry Gross.