The Chatham County Historical Association invites you to a special screening of Talking Black in America, a documentary about the most misunderstood language variety in the history of American English. Filmed across the United States--from the rural South to metropolitan areas of the North--it examines the historical roots of African-American language, focusing on the speech of everyday speakers, together with the observations of linguists and historians. Talking Black in America highlights the rich tradition of language skills of the African-American community-- the tradition of creative oratory performance and rhetoric, ranging from preaching to hip hop and rap—and celebrates the creativity and resilience of people living through oppression, segregation and the fight for equality.
The documentary will be introduced by Dr. Walt Wolfram, who directs the Language and Life Program at North Carolina State University. Dr. Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor at North Carolina State University and has pioneered research on social and ethnic dialects since the 1960s and published more than 20 books and over 300 articles.