Mona Siddiqui speaks to Farah Jasmine Griffin, who is the William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies at Columbia University. Griffin studied at both Harvard and Yale and her major interests are in American and African American literature, music and history. She has published widely on race and gender, jazz and cultural politics. Here she speaks of the power of education to instil hope, how the call for healing can compromise the call for justice and the generosity and creativity of young people.