African American issues

Writer Gloria Naylor. Her novels, Linden Hills and the recent Mama Day create a world in which blacks achieve success at the expense of their own history and identity. Naylor's first work, The Women of Brewster Place, won the 1983 American Book Award for First Fiction.

Vincent Harding. He was the first director of the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta. He worked with Dr. King during the Civil Rights Movement and he's written a history of the struggle for civil rights titled There is a River.

Anti-Apartheid activist Randall Robinson, founder and director of Trans Africa, a lobbying group that focuses on Africa and the Caribbean.

Documentary filmmaker Henry Hampton. He produced the television program "Eyes on the Prize," which documents the history of the civil rights movement -- including the impact press coverage had on the cause.

Gail Lumet Buckley is the daughter of groundbreaking African American actress Lena Horne. Buckley's new book, The Hornes, traces her family's history from the Civil War to contemporary New York, untangling the unique experiences of the black bourgeoisie in the US.

Writer Marita Golden's first novel, A Woman's Place, traces the divergent paths of three African American women as they negotiate their relationships, faith, and careers.

Gail Lumet Buckley is the daughter of groundbreaking African American actress Lena Horne. Buckley's new book, The Hornes, traces her family's history from the Civil War to contemporary New York, untangling the unique experiences of the black bourgeoisie in the US.

While working as a preacher at a mortuary, Solomon Burke was recruited by Atlantic Records to make a country and western album. The record was a hit, but many listeners didn't know Burke is black. He joins Fresh Air to share stories of how he later made a name in soul music.

Poet, memoirist, and activist Maya Angelou discusses her life, career, and time spent living in Ghana.

Amiri Baraka, formerly LeRoi Jones, is a poet, playwright, essayist, and political activist who was of the first militant black writers to emerge in the 1960s. He addresses black life, music, and politics in his writing, and his works have often been seen as shocking. "The Autobiography of LeRoi Jones," Baraka's memoir, has just been released in paperback.