Richard Wright grew up black in the segregated South, excelling in school despite frequent interruptions. It's said that Wright borrowed books from a white library in Memphis by claiming to be assisting a white man.
His first published story came in his teen years, "The Voodoo of Hell's Half-Acre." The story itself is lost to history, but the title is now being used for a multimedia theatrical presentation, a "blues poetry opera" based upon Wright's work.
It is the focus of this month's edition of The Keenest Observers, hosted by Robert Goodwin. Rob's guest is Lasana Kazembe, who created the piece and performs in it. We get a sense of the range of materials that come together to tell a story of Black experience.