Vivian: Why did you want a course in Black history in the first place?
Will: Because I'm interested in it.
Vivian: Are you really?
Will: Of course.
Vivian: Well, you didn't seem too happy about all the work I was giving you. I mean, weren't you the one who said if you were interested in something, you would study hard?
Will: Aunt Viv, I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X three times.
Vivian: And that makes you a serious student on Black history?
Will: That's a very important book.
Vivian: Will, baby, you can read that book, you can wear the T-shirts, you can put up the posters, and shout the slogans, but unless you know all the history behind it you're trivializing the entire struggle. Now you started something very good here but it's up to you, baby, to follow through on it.

Kellogg: Secret code? What do you mean?
Vivian: Well, first of all, can anyone tell me what the Underground Railroad was?
Will: Now, this one I know. The Underground Railroad was a group of people that led the slaves to freedom.
Vivian: And when was it established?
Will: During slavery.
Vivian: Well, that covers about 250 years, Mr. Smith. Care to narrow it down a bit?
Will: What do you mean, right now?
Vivian: Sit down, Mr. Smith. It was established during the 1840s. Harriet Tubman, an ex-slave, was one of the leaders. Now, these gospel songs were actually secret messages sent to tell the runaway slaves how to get to freedom. For example, "the drinking gourd" referred to the Big Dipper. When the slaves sang Follow the Drinking Gourd, that signaled to the runaway slaves to run towards the Big Dipper. Along the route, they would meet with the abolitionist and escape to freedom.
Will: Well, that's what I meant.

Vivian: Black American history, gentlemen from Africa, to slavery, to the present. Now, we've all heard of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King and Booker T. Washington. But Black history includes a lot of people whose names and faces aren't remembered today. Now, how many of you have heard the spirituals sung by the slaves?
Will: [raises hand] Uh, I have.
Vivian: Now listen to this: [sings] Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd Follow the drinking gourd For the old man's waitin' for To carry me to freedom
Kellogg: That was pretty cool.
Vivian: Now, what do you suppose the purpose of that song was?
Will: Uh, let me handle this one. For those of you unfamiliar with the spirituals allow me to explain. The slaves used to sing them to keep their spirits up and their minds on God in the face of all the oppression that they suffered.
Vivian: That was very well put, Mr. Smith, but you're wrong.
Will: I beg your pardon?
Vivian: That song was written to be used as a secret code of the Underground Railroad.