Mr. Cose and Mr. Bell spoke about their most recent works. Ellis Cose is the author of Bone to Pick: Of Forgiveness, Reconciliation, Reparation and Revenge, published by Atria. Derrick Bell is the author of Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform, published by Oxford University Press. After their presentations, both authors responded to questions from members of the audience.

Professor Bell addressed the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education. He placed the case in a broad historical context. He noted that while African Americans had been challenging educational inequality for more than a century by the time of the Brown decision, desegregation was only achieved when it coincided with the interests of an established white political elite. Professor Bell claimed that this closely parallels many events that have advanced the cause of civil rights and racial equality. 

Mr. Cose spoke about evolving definitions of African-American masculinity. He spoke about how researched and wrote his book, as well as the inspiration for its title. Mr. Cose also read several selections from his recent work. He contrasted African-American masculinity to masculinity in several other societies and discussed the historical circumstances that have shaped masculine culture.