“Paul Laurence Dunbar was the first to take a bird’s-eye view of black identity in America. The first to look at his people objectively and catalog their humor, their pain, their strength, their shortcomings. In short, he offers one of the first literary portraits of Black America. He introduces an African-American character to our literary landscape, one that rises above the painted black faces which made the minstrels such a landmark of our theater.”
Musical Selection for this Podcast
- The shadow of your smile by Dexter Gordon
- Farewell Blues by Eric Weissberg
- Trouble by Mahalia Jackson
- A change is gonna come by Otis Redding
- Picking time by Smokey River Boys
- Chain Gang by Sam Cooke
- Lenny by Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Trouble Blues by Sam Cooke
- I believe to my soul by Ray Charles
- My home is in the Delta by Muddy Waters
