Richard Wright's Almos' a Man

"Based on the story by Richard Wright, Almos' a Man stars LeVar Burton as a black teenager in the South of the 1930s. Working as a field hand, Burton is frustrated at being considered inferior to the local whites. Perhaps if he purchases a gun, he can prove his manhood. This is the decision he makes-much to the anguish of his mother, played by Madge Sinclair. Originally a PBS American Short Story presentation, Almos' a Man was first telecast April 26, 1977. Running some 45 minutes, it was offered in tandem with a dramatizaton of Ernest Hemingway's Soldier's Home."