Charter communitions, along with these Television Companies come support cspan2 as a public service. Welcome again to the 16th National Black writers conference. My name is Erica Buddington and as you for of langston league, a consulting curriculum from the specialize in cultural affirmative Chuck Schumer materials and writing for latenight segment called how to begetter . Speaking of how we got here, we are all here for a roundtable discussion entitled the souls of black folk telling our stories. Todays roundtable title is taken from w. E. B. Du bois Landmark Book the souls of black folk and in this regard todays speakers will discuss how their work speaks to the publics expense of black people throughout the African Diaspora through fiction, poetry, drama and acidic each writer featured here today will illustrate the ways in which his or her work speak to the complex experiences of black people in the literature and beyond. I i know at the 16th National Black writers conference, but