in 1951, richard wright actually starred in a film version of "native son."d the main character, bigger thomas. this is just a clip from the trailer. >> all my life i heard of black men being killed because of white girls. and there i was. >> darling, give up. it might make it easier. >> i felt free and wasn't scared no more. i was back home again. and there was my father the white folks had killed when i was a kid. >> how can i help you now? >> you don't have to help me, mr. max. go home. now you can hate me like the others. amy: again, that is richard wright playing bigger thomas in the film version of his book, the blockbuster best-seller at the time, "native son," and then his kind of literary biography, "black boy." julia, especially for the younger generation, if you could give us a thumbnail biography of your father, of where your father grew up, how he moved north, how he wrote these books, and ultimately -- i don't know if you'd describe it as fleed, but fled the united states with you and your mother -- right? fled new york, fled the racism, as jame

america to have the book finally published nearly 80 years after it was written and 60 years after richard wrighthe age of 52 in paris, where he had taken his family to live since 1946. julia wright is joining us now from portugal, longtime anti-death penalty activist, supporter of mumia blue jamaal -- many of jamaal and his writing a blog or free of her father. she is the executrix of his estate. we welcome you back to democracy now! is great to have you back after all of these years. can you talk about the significance of what you found d how youinally have had it published? >> thank you for having me back on the show. yes, it was a very exciting discovery. i was living in paris at the end of the 1990's, during the early years of 2000. i was learning the ropes of the estate with my mother ellen. i was also freelancing as a journalist there. the time came after my mother's death to publish another work by my father. so since i would travel to the united states to visit death row and visit death row prisoners there like mumia abu-jamal, whose human rights were being so systematically violated, i

richard wright savaged the novel for much of the same reasons. now, however, hurston returned fire with public fire. with her piece in the saturday review assessing his short story collection, "uncle tom's children." damning with nothing but violence to appeal to male readers. hurston's third novel was "moses, men of the mountain," a retelling of the moses story that reconfigured him as a voodoo man. she is drawing upon her anthropology for fiction. she held this to be her most complex novel. the one in which he dared the most, even if it wasn't fully successful. reviews were mixed and it remains neglected compared to the volumes of criticism devoted to the short stories and the first two novels. as suggested by moses, hurston seemed to struggle in her fiction buffet realm of the black working-class south she knew so well. this ultimately led to her departure from lippincott after they rejected her manuscript of "mrs. doctor," which dealt with upper-class african-american existence. with the existence of marjorie rollins, a white writer in florid

of tony morrison of course, we hear pot james baldwin, langston hughes, maybe a couple others, richard wright but we often don't hear but ann pet true or chester hinds or charles johnson or john a. williams, charles wright. john a. williams when i read "the angry ones" which was published either -- like between the 50s and the 70s, i believe. i said, woe, i'm writing something that feels original but it's part of a large and long temporary digs so with those types of books just inspired me to go further to go deeper to create fearlessly or if i did have any fear or trip digs, to push through it -- trepidation and to push through it. at the time he wrote black buck i didn't have hesitancy because i had written two plan uscripts that didn't go anywhere, didn't get an agent and didn't get a book deal and i thought f this and i will write the bike want and black buck was what i wanted and it resonates. >> in terms of black buck, you hat written two manuscripts and went on agent submission and so on and didn't get picked up and then this book is picked up. did you find there was a hunger for the s

mooney was richard pryor's longtime wright partner and also the head of writing for "in living color. "the twitter account posted this saying the godfather of comedy one moon, many stars to all in love with this greatup, making in the bay really getting even harder for first-time home buyers. the new numbers that show the staggering cost of homes. >>> and fire season has already started here in the bay area, and there's had a major problem. not enough firefighters working for the u.s. forest service. the reap many of those workers are going to other agencies. >>> but, first, our american -- asian-american and pacific islander heritage month shines a spotlight on a literal top chef. melissa king lives in san francisco. in 2012 she was a finalist on the show top chef winning the title of fan favorite and today we slate you, melissa. >>> well, the fighting between israel and palestinian militants raging on for a tenth day. there are reports president biden is encouraging israeli prime minister netanyahu to ease the attacks on gaza. israeli air strikes are red ham into israel are slowing

richard louis is here with the headlines. >> very good evening to you. some of the stories we're watching this hour. republicans susan wrightllzey are projected to fill the house seats of susan rice's late husband. there will be no change in the balance of power in the house. three people are dead including the suspect in a shooting at a casino near green bay, wisconsin. another person was seriously injured. authorities say the shooter was targeting a hotel worker. >>> and, finally, j emergency roomony agreed -- germany agreed to return plundered artifacts to nigeria. they were stolen by british soldiers in the 19th century. hundreds are currently in german museums. >>> more right after the break. gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. the only thing better than a new 5g phone is another one for free. right now, buy one of our best 5g phones, get another one on us. with verizon, get the 5g network you deserve, with the 5g phones you want. beca