>> "here and now," the program featuring the news and interests of the african-american community. here's your host, sandra bookman. >> coming up, the latest on the dominican republic's move to de-nationalize resident of haitian descent and recent efforts to prevent mass deportations. also, how one mother turned frustration into action, providing services for children and families living with autism. later, a band of angels, the award-winning musical that tells the story of an all-black choir formed by freed slaves. plus actor john amos taking on a new role that examines controversial police practices towards black men.

>> the billie holiday theatre is kicking off its season with the world premiere of the play "twelve angry men: true stories of being a black man in america today." one of the stars of the production, award-winning actor john amos, perhaps best known for his roles in the sitcom "good times" and the groundbreaking miniseries "roots," is here in our studio today. thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. >> well, thank you for having me. >> what attracted you to this particular play? >> i had the pleasure of

directing this piece years ago with the bahamian repertory company in the bahamas. and we had a wonderful cast, all bahamian actors, many of whom were professionals during the day, attorneys, architects, couple of doctors. and they went about this as though it were their calling. and it was just the most gratifying experience i've ever had. of course, it's a wonderful american classic, "twelve angry men," so i jumped at the opportunity to revisit the piece. and i'm looking forward to it. the other part of it that drew me to it is the fact that it has its origin at the billie holiday theatre, which was a jump-off point for me years ago when i launched the world tour of my one-man show, "halley's comet," in which i portray an 86-year-old man who's lived long enough to see the comet come twice. so at that time, marjorie moon was the artistic director, and i'm not sure if marjorie's still with us or not. i pray she is. and it was a wonderful

production, and i look forward to seeing the billie holiday theatre and revisiting this piece, "twelve angry men." >> the subject matter particularly timely, considering what we've experienced over the last few months. >> yeah, it's timeless. >> in this particular play, you know, the 12 angry men, i think, refers to these 12 men who each sort of relate black men, who each talk about their own experiences with racial profiling. do you have a preference? do you prefer theater? do you prefer -- >> yes. >> you said it really quick. >> well, i want to get that across. i love theater because it establishes a link between the performer and the audience that you don't get in film. film is a director's medium. i've always contended of the three mediums, film is for the director, tv is for the wallet, and stage is for the actor. it sounds somewhat elitist, but so be it.

>> no, you're a professional. >> i'd like to think so. >> i've heard other actors express similar sentiments, that they really feed off that live audience, and it really is you and them. there's no do-overs when you're before a live audience. >> you're living on the edge, you know, and i like walking that tight rope between you're not quite sure, "have i got all my lines? is the other actor gonna give me the right cue?" there's always that element of danger in it, and it keeps the adrenaline flowing. >> now, you know what it's like to be on a tv show that's a big hit. you were on "good times," and over the years, you've expressed some dissatisfaction with the way that that script went a lot of times. it wasn't exactly what you thought you were signing on to. you watch television over the years. now there are some hit shows on now that deal with african-american issues. do you think that the -- have you had a chance to see some of that and you feel like

chance of not just stereotyping people of color, that we see people of color, you know, in all of their full glory? >> well, not all of it, but it's certainly been explored more diligently and more sensitively than it was when i first came. and there were networks -- nbc, cbs, and abc. am i allowed to say that? if i'm not, i already said it. >> no, it's fine. >> so, quite frankly, there weren't as many opportunities because there were only three networks. now you got reality shows, you've got tremendous producer/writers like lee daniels with "empire" and the impact that that's made on the industry and the incredible amount of opportunities that that show and other shows have provided. i had the pleasure of working with anthony anderson a couple years back on a sitcom called "all about the andersons." and it's a pleasure to see him back with "black-ish," working with laurence fishburne. and mentioning laurence fishburne, i've heard -- i don't know if there's

they're gonna do a complete remake of "roots" and that laurence fishburne will portray alex haley. so it'll be interesting to see how they spin that, because let's face it, at the time that i was fortunate enough to be involved in the original "roots," it was revelatory. it was groundbreaking. and to this day, i believe it holds the record for the most viewers, recorded viewers, in the history of the medium. so i've had some wonderful opportunities. >> would you say that is -- what is the role that you're most proud of? is it "roots"? or are there...? >> i'd say "roots" because of what it did for me on a personal level. i was one of four african-american students to integrate the new jersey school system at the elementary school level and then later at the junior high school level. so the aspersions that were cast on me, some physical -- some physical -- it was over racism at that time. we're talking '50s and early

so to cut to the chase, the industry has been my opportunity to address the issues, grievances, or whatever i had through the choice of characters that i've chosen to portray. and as i said, i've been very fortunate having worked with some stellar performers on stage, screen, and tv, not the least of which was denzel washington, in which i portrayed his father in a theatrical piece called "split second" years ago. and i can say this to you and all your viewers -- if you think denzel is marvelous on screen, you got to see him on stage. >> yes, i've had that opportunity. >> he is something to behold. and to work with him -- whoo -- to rehearse with him, it's a joy. >> you're from the new jersey area. >> born and raised. >> how did that influence -- has that influenced your career, do you think, being from the northeast? >> absolutely, because i

recognized my roots -- pardon the pun -- go back to the deep south. my mom was born and raised in birmingham, alabama, and as a child, she insisted -- and she made it possible for me to visit my relatives in the deep south every summer as i was growing up from about the age of 10 on up to my teens. and the other relatives of the family off shoot, when they made the migration north, moved to a small mining town in pennsylvania called library, pennsylvania. so i got to know my southern roots, and that enriched me. growing up in jersey instills you with a certain jersey attitude. >> [ laughs ] >> so hollywood was a cakewalk after new jersey. you know what i mean? >> so you can handle anything. >> bring it. whatever it is, bring it on. we can handle it. >> and before i let you go, proud of the career that you've cobbled together these many years? >> "cobbled together" -- i like that, because it's what you have to do. >> 'cause an actor's life is not necessarily --

>> you have to cobble it. you have to put this piece with that piece. and ironically enough, you used the word "cobble." one of the biggest influences of my life was one of my uncles who lived in birmingham, and i realized i had a mercantile heritage because my aunt and uncle owned three contiguous businesses on a major avenue in birmingham. and segregation was what made that possible. they owned a mom-and-pop's grocery store. you could buy provisions for the house. next to it, there was miss cecilia gregory's beauty parlor, because if you were a woman of color, you had to go to a woman of color to get your hair done. and finally there was my uncle gregory's cobbler shop. not apples or peaches -- but he made shoes from scratch. and his shoes were such quality that i had to find mr. florsheim or stacy adams to distinguish between these shoes my uncle made and those that were made by the factory. so, yeah, growing up in jersey and having some roots in the south, it helped me along the way. >> all right, john amos, what a

pleasure to meet you. >> thank you so much. >> and if folks want to find out more about the production "twelve angry men," restorationart.org. you can find out the performance times, ticket prices. >> thank you. >> very nice to meet you. i've enjoyed you over the years. >> thank you. so far, so good. they haven't found me out yet. >> [ laughs ] i think a lot of us feel that way about our own careers, as well. >> amen. salud. >> still ahead on "here and now," a look at the ongoing crisis in the dominican republic, where tens

stay with us. traveling through seas of oats and berries

peaches, pumpkin seeds, and cherries i say to the bowl are you trying to temp me? the bowl says "come on down to the land of plenti." yoplait plenti, with oats, flax, and pumpkin seeds.

>> it's been called ethnic cleansing, the move by the dominican republic to de-nationalize those of haitian descent. hundreds are being deported every day, and according to amnesty international, more than 27% of those people say they were born in the d.r. but don't have the documents to prove it. our next guest is attorney joseph makhandal champagne, chair of the national haitian american elected officials network. his organization is actively seeking justice for the thousands of dominicans of haitian descent being forced from their birthplace. thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> even listening to this, it's difficult. you know, we've talked about this before on the show. what is the situation now? are people being pushed out of the country on a daily basis? >> the situation is dire.

there's an emergency there. there's a cry for justice. there's a cry for proper treatment of those dominicans of haitian descent and haitians as a nationality. and those people, a lot of them that have been either expulsed or deported to haiti, were born in dominican republic, and that is very disconcerting. it's something that the international community has decried as a violation of international norms. and my organization, the national haitian american elected officials, and all the affiliated organizations have stood up against this practice of first de-nationalizing dominicans of haitian descent and also expulsing them to haiti. >> why is the country doing this? some have said it's racism.

others said that's not it. it's economics. why? >> well, first of all, the haitians and the dominicans are of the same race, so i wouldn't necessarily call it racism, although it does have that -- it does present itself this way. it's really colorism. there is a sense of focusing on the whitening of dominican republic, and this is not my term. this is a term that rafael trujillo, a former dictator in dominican republic, have used. as a matter of fact, in 1937, there was a major massacre, more specifically in october of 1937, where there were close to 40,000 haitians that were killed within the span of a week. and president rafael trujillo

these individuals because he wanted to keep dominican republic fair-skinned or what he called light-skinned or white. and the organization of american states stepped in and sanctioned on dominican republic for that killing, for those killings, and they had to pay $522,000 for committing that act. and so this is something that has always been happening from the very beginning. >> what is it that your organization is doing or can do to try to help these people? >> well, the national haitian american elected officials network engaged in a fact-finding mission. we went to dominican republic on

officials, namely the american ambassador in dominican republic, the haitian ambassador, there. and also we went to the batey to interview those haitians that are living in abject conditions who are caught in canes and whatnot. we also interviewed the attorneys that are militating against this injustice. we interviewed the students who are directly affected by the xenophobic environment created by the government officials from dominican republic. >> what can you, you know, practically do to assist folks that are still in the country and some of those that are being kicked out? because many of these people, they have no resources. the dominican republic is the only home they've ever known, so there really isn't anything in haiti for them at all. >> yes, that's very true. as a matter of fact, these

people are considered stateless. those dominicans of haitian descent, they are considered stateless because even the haitian constitution is limited in terms of recognizing those individuals who are born, for instance, in 1930 in dominican republic, because remember, the de-nationalization of those -- yeah -- goes back to 1929. exactly, so you can have somebody in his or her 80s who would be considered dominicans, but because of that law, has been de-nationalized, and that person cannot necessarily claim to be haitian based on the recent amendment to the haitian constitution. >> what, if anything, can people here do to try to shed more light, put more pressure? i know that there's a big rally coming up in washington. >> yes, there's a big rally in washington, d.c., on october 10, 2015, where the honorable minister

issue upon himself to give a platform to both dominican and haitians, because this is not against the dominican people. the dominican people really, in the sense, are victims, because they have their own family members who are dominicans but they happen to be of haitian descent, and now they are to be separated from their own family members. so this is not against dominican people. it is against the practices of dominicans. some dominican officials on october 10, 2015, the honorable minister louis farrakhan, and the nation of islam is providing a platform where both dominicans and haitians can speak to the injustices that they are experiencing there in an effort to foster some measure of unity between both the haitian people and the dominican people as one people. >> are you feeling hopeful? we're running out of time here, last 20 seconds.

>> yes, i am feeling hopeful because i do recognize that there are a lot of people of goodwill living in this world. they are in dominican republic, they are in haiti, they are also in united states. i'm calling upon these people of goodwill to join together and to make a statement to those who are responsible for the continuous de-nationalization and de-humanization of haitians and dominicans of haitian descent. >> all right, and i'm gonna send people to your website. nhaeon.chairman@gmail.com. that's your -- >> that's my e-mail address. >> that's your web -- >> e-mail. >> e-mail address. so if they want to know any additional information about the organization and your fight in the dominican republic, they can e-mail you. >> yes, ma'am. >> joseph champagne, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon, and best of luck to you. >> my pleasure. thank you for inviting me. >> still ahead on "here and now," affordable educational and recreational

programs for children with autism. we'll tell you about nassan's place. join the millions who have already switched. we switched. and now, we're streaming netflix. who knew time warner cable's internet was so fast! mom switched. and now, we can watch our favorite shows together, on demand. i switched. so i can connect to the internet just about anywhere

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if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. >> they say necessity is the mother of invention. that is why one mother, frustrated when she couldn't find needed resources for her autistic son, created her own center based in essex county, new jersey, to assist families dealing with autism. nadine wright-arbubakrr is the founder of nassan's place, named

she is joining us today, along with dr. tyrone bentley, a behavioral pediatrician. thank you both for being with us this afternoon. >> thank you for having us. >> now, nassan was very young when he was diagnosed. what made you think that there was something that wasn't quite right? >> i noticed about 18 and 19 months, he stopped responding to his name. one day i called out to him, and he didn't respond as he previously had. and it's like, "what's going on?" and then i noticed that he started running back and forth, a repetitious behavior which was something that was uncommon with my other three children, so i went to the doctor and i said, "i want his hearing checked to make sure that" -- 'cause i initially thought there may be a hearing issue. and they checked his hearing and, you know, thankfully it wasn't his hearing. 'cause previously he was being cared for in a person's home, so it's when i decided to put him in a daycare center when they

approached me. as a parent, i did know something was wrong. i just did not know what it was. and once they said to me, "you should get him evaluated," that opened the door to the developmental pediatricians and then getting the other evaluations that i needed to get him properly diagnosed. >> once he was diagnosed and you realized what you were dealing with, you started looking around for help to get him some of the resources he needed. what were you having trouble finding? >> once he was diagnosed and i got over the initial shock and the devastation and the hurt, i decided to find out if there were any resources such as after-school programs, some support. i couldn't find any. it was grueling. i'm calling agency after agency trying to find a place that i could feel like i wasn't alone. and, unfortunately, i just couldn't find those places in my community. >> and you decided then, "i'm

gonna have to just put it together myself." >> i decided to no longer be a part of the problem but become a part of the solution and do these things because they were happening. they just weren't happening in my community. so i embarked on the journey to start nassan's place, and we are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization helping to make a difference in the lives of children and families affected by autism. >> now i want to bring you in here, dr. bentley. >> sure. >> her story -- you've heard it before from families. >> thousands of times. >> mm-hmm. why do you think it has been so difficult to find these services to the extent that they're needed? >> well, i think the services are limited depending on the community that you're in. i think we see -- there are different levels. you have state services, you have local services. many services are in the school. but it's hard for us, for the families, to actually find the services that will meet their needs, their child's specific needs.

they're scattered throughout the communities and many communities throughout the united states. >> i find it interesting because new jersey, you know, the occurrence of autism is pretty high in new jersey. what is it? 1 in 44? >> correct. >> it's like the second highest in the country. >> correct. >> is there any particular reason for that? is it just population or happenstance or...? >> i think one of the reasons is that we're part of the network in which we're surveilling this particular population. so, you know, we have numbers, we have accurate stats. >> so we have the accurate stats, which would say to me, well, then we know there's a need there. >> correct. >> so maybe the hope is that it would be easier to find some of these services. and when we talk about services, nadine, we are really talking about after-school programs. run me down a list of what nassan's place is able to offer these families. >> okay, through nassan's place, we're able to offer them an opportunity to have a place

where they feel like they belong and families and others that understand what they're going through. so, through nassan's place, we've been able to provide social outings, where a lot of these families didn't have an opportunity to bring the children out. we do sensory friendly movie days at the local movie theater in the city of newark, cityplex 12. we also do sensory friendly skating events. we do holiday celebrations, autism support groups. we do wellness workshops. it's very important for our families to know. it's important what we put into our children. and we also do a saturday enrichment program periodically throughout the year, and that is very huge. a lot of our families don't have a place where they can take their children. and nassan's place is on the go right now to find a facility. we don't currently have our own facility. we're on the cusp of trying to get funding so that we will have that, because these families need to have a place that they feel like they belong. because a traditional after-school program, a lot of those workers don't understand what autism is, and so many families are being turned away.

>> because they're not equipped to deal with the children. >> they're not educated. correct. >> can i ask you, dr. bentley? it's one of the biggest questions i know you're probably asked. >> mm-hmm. >> do we know yet what causes autism? >> well, to answer that question, you really need to look at the cause of autism in terms of two categories. so, we have those individuals who have pure autism spectrum disorder and then those individuals who have syndromic autism spectrum disorder. now, the first category, they don't have any physical abnormalities. they have the characteristics and features of kid on the autism spectrum. but in their family history, what you'll find is there are what we call neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, et cetera, et cetera. now, we know that that particular group, the primary cause in that group is involving genetics.

>> mm-hmm. >> now, the other group, the syndromic group, the autism spectrum disorder is part of a larger picture, okay? and so those individuals have, for example, a syndrome like fetal alcohol spectrum syndrome or down syndrome. >> mm-hmm. >> and so the autism spectrum disorder is a part of that particular syndrome. and so the larger group is the pure asd. the smaller group are the syndromic. >> so you're dealing with a wide range of people. >> a wide range. >> nadine, i want to ask you before i let you go, what difference has it made in your life, as well as nassan's, to be able to work with people who understand what's going on and still are able to give him the best of everything, despite the fact that he's dealing with autism? >> right. well, i can tell you autism

itself changed my life. it definitely changes a family's whole routine and day-to-day. for me to be able to offer services by starting nassan's place, which wasn't an easy task -- it took me three years to finally make that decision. but the hope and the help that we're bringing to not only nassan but to the other families, the hundreds, if not thousands, of families in and around my community, it's priceless. i mean, to have those families say "thank you, because i now feel like i belong," to have a child who normally wouldn't pick up a basketball when they come to our saturday program picks up a basketball and a mother cry, you know, those type of stories makes it all worthwhile to know that, you know, through nassan's place and through nassan having this diagnosis, we're now able to reach out and help so many. and we've been very fortunate enough to also have the community reach out and help us and the city of east orange, the city of newark.

>> the swimming program. >> right, the city of east orange is going to be offering a six-week swimming session for children with autism, and i'm very excited 'cause a lot of our families, unfortunately, have not had the opportunity to get access and the affordability to do it. and in the city of newark -- i'm sorry, city of east orange is now going to offer it to our families and children, so i'm really excited about that. >> and i said it was the last question, but i lied. [ laughter ] one more thing, doctor. a lot of these kids, with the proper care, patience, and time, can function normally or close to what we call normal, normally. can they not? but you need to have it diagnosed and get them the care and the treatment. >> that's accurate. what our goal is -- to identify many of the children very early at an early age, because research shows that the younger they are, the earlier you get them the levels of interventional services, the better the outcome.

and nadine's place is a perfect example, where they can have quality of life, you know, should the proper resources be available. >> all right, nadinesplace.org. >> i'm sorry. nassan's place. [ laughter ] nadine. >> see? you started it. >> i know, i know. >> nassansplace.org. find out more information about the wonderful work that you're doing, autism, and how they can help you keep doing it. thank you both very much. >> my pleasure. thank you. >> next on "here and now," cool culture exposing preschoolers and their families

>> the preschool program cool culture uses art to enhance language development in children during their most critical years. cool culture connects more than 50,000 low-income families in new york city with free unlimited admission to premier cultural institutions. joining us this afternoon is the executive director of cool culture, candice anderson. thank you so much for joining us. i love the name -- cool culture. >> thank you. and thank you for having me. >> yeah, it's just a fabulous program. you said you've been around for 15 years. >> we have. >> what is the idea behind it? >> yeah, cool culture is a

unique organization that is changing the lives of children and families, and we do this by answering the question, "how do you help parents support their children's education?" cool culture brings together museums, neighborhood title 1 public schools, preschools, and families to improve outcomes for children who are underserved. we do this by working together in partnership because we know that the arts really are groundbreaking for so many young children. >> yeah. education is not just about the books and the school hours. >> it is not. it is not. which is why we work with 90 cultural institutions around the five boroughs of new york city. we partner with over 400 neighborhood schools. and we serve 50,000 families, as you mentioned, providing them with free admission to 90 museums. and we know that it's working. we know when parents when access to the arts across income, they use it. last year, parents and children made almost 200,000 visits to our partner cultural

>> and how does it work? how do you -- you know, how does a family get hooked up -- and the kids get hooked up with cool culture? is it done through schools or...? >> they key is really the neighborhood school. we really rely on educators in the community who know their families, they know their interests, and they work to connect what's going on with the classroom with family visits to the museums during out-of-school time. so, as a parent, i would go to my school, i would ask whether or not they were participating in cool culture. if not, i would encourage them to become a part of the program. and then the educator signs me up. >> now, so i gave a number 50,000 at the beginning. that's how many students you... >> we serve 50,000 families. so we're talking about upwards of 170,000 young children between the ages of 0 and 6. >> and what difference does it make? we talked about language skills. what difference does it make for a young child to have exposure to the arts early on when it

comes to, you know, their abilities? >> it makes a huge difference. and particularly when they're doing it alongside their parents, aunts, uncles who are stewards and first teachers for them, it provides them with an opportunity to really get a sense of what's possible in the world to sort of build their curiosity, critical thinking, have confidence, and to ask questions. >> and i think that, from what i'm reading, is that one of the reasons cool culture is so important, too, is because there really is a difference between, you know, how some students do, they're from more well-to-do families, and kids maybe in the inner city from, you know, lower-income families. that access is really critical, or lack of access is critical. >> absolutely. there's a real urgency to this issue. we know that 30% of new york city children live in poverty, according to

we also know that 90% of brain development happens before children are the age of 5. and even before that, we know that by age 3, lower-income children have 32 million words less in their sort of vocabulary than do more fluent children. and the arts provide a perfect way to introduce children to new vocabulary, to get out of their neighborhood and see what's possible in all of new york city. and the reality is, hundreds of thousands of tourists come to new york city every year from abroad, from across the country, and we want children who are living in poverty to have the same rich cultural experiences. >> yeah, i mean, there's so much that we take for granted. and we offer it to the visitors, you know, make it feasible economically for many of them to do it. it makes sense that we would do it for our own children. how is cool culture's funded?

>> i'm glad you asked that. so, we are funded by a variety of foundation funding, by government funding, but primarily we need the help of individuals. so we are always looking for folks to join us either through a contribution or through volunteering, and we have many experiences for -- opportunities for volunteering, and we welcome people. >> it is such a great program, and it's one of those things you go, "no-brainer." [ laughs ] >> exactly. and the reality is that cultural institutions in new york city are looking to reach more diverse audiences. they're thinking about how they can work with young children. but there's often a gap. cool culture steps in to address that disconnect and to bring audiences to cultural institutions. >> and it's coolculture.org. find out all that information about the institutions that are involved, as well as how we can donate, right? >> that's right, yes. >> thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. >> thank you for having me.

next on "here and now," the award-winning musical that celebrates the history of the fisk jubilee singers. stage. stay with us. >> hold on >> hold on are you getting the internet speed you need? [excited yelling] ah, yes! you cannot stop it! aww...your mom liked my post. you're friends with my mom? we all use it differently. so why should we get it all the same way?

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>> "a band of angels" is an award-winning musical that tells the story of the real-life jubilee singers, an all-black choir formed by freed slaves at fisk university shortly after

the civil war. that choir is credited with bringing spiritual music to mass audiences. >> [ singing indistinctly ] >> free at last free at last thank god i'm free at last free at last free at last freedom day >> [ singing indistinctly ] >> [ singing indistinctly ] >> [ singing indistinctly ] >> didn't my lord deliver daniel? >> oh, yes hallelujah didn't, didn't, didn't my lord

and why not every man? >> keep your hands on the plow hold on hold on >> hold on >> hold on >> hold on >> hold on >> let it shine let it shine let it shine >> "a band of angels" won the 2015 off-broadway alliance award for best family musical. and with us today is award-winning actor and director colman domingo. >> hello there. >> welcome and congratulations. >> thank you so very much. it's so nice to be here. >> you had to be proud of others recognizing your work. >> absolutely, especially for -- i mean, it's such a young company, new york city children's theater, and i think the approach to their theater is

when the form -- it's for family audiences. it's not necessarily children's theater, because i think we're dealing with savvy material. you know, with "a band of angels," we deal with the middle passage and slavery, but we do it in a way where it's theatrical in all audiences. this thing's for adults, this thing's for children. it'll probably fly over their heads. the adults get it. you know what i mean? but it's really -- how do we tell an incredible story about these amazing human beings, the fisk jubilee singers, who would sing to save their school and the importance of education, you know. >> and, i mean, beautiful music, as you said. it's beautiful music combined with spirituality and a history lesson. >> absolutely. and a little bit of wit and humor. we have at the center of the play, of the musical, a young girl, a young bronx girl who, you know, she's very much interested in kim kardashian and maybe just wanted to be a singer or go on a reality show and doesn't think that education is important, very much into

but then she has a journey with her aunt, who holds the energy and the stories of the ancestors, who takes her back in time to understand the importance of education and what people had to do in order for her to be here. and so she learns a lesson over the course of, what, an hour. and it's just very simple, but you have to know who you are and where you come from so you know where you're going. so that's what it's about. >> and audiences really responded to this. >> oh, they did. they really responded. >> was it the music, the story, the combination? >> i think the combination. first of all, i think anytime you hear like six voices a capella, which is very rare, and we had the most extraordinary group of actors, they're delicious and the music is just -- you know, it's spiritual music. it's music that's in all of our blood and our dna. and i think it was done -- we have a very theatrical sense of play that happens in this play, as well, too. we had just the costume, the lighting, the set. it was pretty rich, and the people really loved it. >> i think one of the things

that i admire about this story, too, is that it brings to life this history that, honestly, a lot of people probably had no idea about. >> exactly. exactly. i mean, i think -- we mentioned fisk jubilee singers. right now they're like, "hmm, who were they? we don't know anything about them at all." we don't even know their legacy of what they -- the fact that they didn't even graduate school, a lot of them, because they were too busy trying to, you know, work for it. you know what i mean? so it's nice that we have these reminders, and i think especially at this time in these very heated times about race and culture and who we are, it's nice to have a piece like this for us to interrogate more about who we are and our history and our collective history as americans that is very complicated and messy and dark. but we allow -- in the theater, we have a safe place where we can come and address these issues and go out and investigate some more. >> now, you directed this, so i have to ask you -- what do you like best? directing? performing? which? >> you know, i like both. i think they both use --

>> 'cause you're greedy. >> i'm greedy. i'm an incredibly greedy person. [ laughs ] no, i think -- i just like being useful as a storyteller. sometimes whether it means if i'm an actor or playwright, director, it's all the same for me. it's all the same vocabulary. as a director, i like the idea of bringing everyone to the party. you know, you're gonna bring your greens. somebody's gonna bring some good chicken. somebody is gonna bring something good to drink. >> potluck. >> a potluck. we're gonna make a great, great meal and have a good time. so i think that's the job of a director, and i really love to do that and really to inspire the room to let's take a chance and be daring and vivacious and intriguing together. >> but performing has to feed a certain part of you, as well. i remember seeing you on that front line in "selma." >> yeah, yeah. yeah, exactly. as a performer, once again, i love telling stories, and i've been very blessed to be -- i mean, the idea of directing something like "band of angels," it feels like it's in direct alignment with my acting work, whether it's been part of movies like "selma" or "lincoln."

make you a stronger performer? >> i think it does. also i think because the message, because you have even a stronger mission. it's less about just entertaining and you and telling a story, but it's like this is a bigger mission. it's something more about our humanity that you feel like you want to lend yourself over and give everything to, and i guess that's the kind of performer i am and the kind of director and playwright that i am. i just want to do that. >> anything you're working on right now that you'd like to share with us? >> sure. why not? you can tune in right now on amc on sunday nights at 9:00 for "fear the walking dead." >> yes. >> yes, and i'm -- if anyone saw it this past sunday, that is me without my glasses and more hair who's a very mysterious -- >> zombies freak me out. they just give me the willies. >> they're supposed to. >> i know it. >> they're doing their job. >> and i'm a horror movie fan. there's something about zombies that just really -- >> you know what i think it is, though? because i think it's too real. >> maybe that's it. >> like, the idea of this apocalypse setting in our show is like it could happen today. like, what happens if we're sitting here today --

i know. you're like, "don't do it." what if we're sitting here right now and suddenly people turn? >> yeah. >> [ laughs ] >> and i bite you, right? okay. >> bite me? exactly. >> [ laughing ] so, we can see "a band of angels" november 18th -- no, november -- october 18th at joe's pub. >> at joe's pub at the public theater, which is right downtown at 425 lafayette street. they have a great restaurant up there. there's food all around. come, enjoy yourself. we have two shows. i believe it's 2:00 and 7:00. but they can check the website for that to double-check. >> all right. >> but it's a good time. >> we would love for you to come back. we really like you. except for the zombie thing. >> [ laughs ] i won't bring any zombies with me. how about that? we'll make an agreement. >> colman domingo, a pleasure to see you.

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