In this transcript of a May 5, 1989, oral history interview conducted by William Link with Otis L. Hairston Sr. and Nelson Johnson, Hairston and Johnson compare their respective childhoods in Greensboro and Halifax County, North Carolina, and discuss early experiences and influences on their lives. They also discuss educational issues, including the desegregation of Greensboro schools, in addition to race relations, the use of boycotts, and the relationship between faith and class in the black community.