Poet Sonia Sanchez and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates each love Howard University, but it’s a complicated relationship. “Howard didn’t really want me to teach there,” she says. And for him: “I was never a great student at Howard University, but I was a great student of Howard University.” Love: it’s never simple. Two writers, two generations, one terrific conversation at the Park Avenue Armory, with music from The Ebony Hillbillies – also pretty terrific.
Photo by Erin Baiano courtesy Park Avenue Armory & Aspen Institute Arts Program

•  PERSON: Amiri Baraka
•  PLACE: Howard University
•  THING: Black Fire

•  RANDY’S THING: Unlikely Nicknames