THE COLOR OF A LIE

Golden Voice Kevin R. Free portrays Calvin Greene's mix of paranoia and anger when his African American family demands that he pass as white in a segregated Pennsylvania community in 1955. Free expresses the longing Kevin feels for his sister, who was killed by racial violence. While pretending to be a white person, he also misses his best friend, his estranged brother, and playing jazz. Free depicts how Calvin's quiet disgust for the spoiled white students he attends school with turns to animosity and then to fierce protection of Lily, a new student who is integrating the school. As his feelings for Lily become stronger, so does Free's voicing of Calvin's belief in the developing Civil Rights movement. He contrasts Calvin's good judgment with the wrongness of his father's decisions and the racist community that surrounds them both. S.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2024]