Scene 1 - My Soul is a Witness Listen to and discuss the opening prayer and speech by Dr. Farmer. Explain the significance of the powerful words which are spoken in the background as you watch the scenes of Lowe in the bar about to get into a fight then fighting, Samantha on the bus watching the poor as it drives by, and Melvin dressed as a farmer walking at night. Then answer the following questions.

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away all childish things." (1Cor 13:11. KJV) Freshman Class, I believe we are the most privileged people in America. Because we have the most important job... in America. The education of our young people. We must impress upon our young people. That there will be difficulties that they face. They must defeat them. They must do what they have to doin order to do what they want to do. Education is the only way out. The way out of ignorance."

1. What does Dr. Farmer mean when he states ""When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put away all childish things." ?

2. Is it the schools responsibility to help teens develop into adults? Why or why not?

3. Where do most high-schoolers learn the lessons they need to become adults?

4. What do you think Samantha is thinking as she looks at her impoverished neighborhood?

5. What would have happened in Henry Lowe would have stabbed the woman's husband to death?

6. is education still "the only way out" for the African-American community?

7. How does Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too, Sing America” relate to the issues that the students were facing as African Americans in the United States in that time?