John Henrik Clarke

In "Long black song," a hard-working farmer invests what little he has in a gift for his wife, while back home, she falls for the advances of a traveling salesman. A small-town principal risks his career to defend a young boy's image of a black Christ painted for a state-wide competition in "The boy who painted Christ black." A jazz-joint piano player in "The Reunion" comes to terms with prejudices that have haunted her since childhood, when she is...