Romero had invited four actors to read excerpts from the plays: Charles S. Dutton performed a monologue from Fences; Phylicia Rashad quoted the venerable Aunt Ester from Gem; Anthony Chisholm read from Joe Turner; and Ruben Santiago-Hudson performed from Two Trains. Dutton, who had feuded with Wilson, but ultimately reconciled with him, told the attendees that his plays “encompassed the entire African-American experience.” His legacy, he noted, “is as important as Martin Luther King’s legacy, as important as Malcolm X’s legacy, and as important as Nat Turner.”
