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While the overall U.S. economy seems to be stuck in neutral, one bright spot is that charitable giving to the arts is up 5 percent more than last year. It's good news, but a new study cautions that much of that support serves audiences that are wealthier and whiter than the country as a whole.

Two of America's oldest black fraternities will celebrate 100 years of brotherhood and civic action this month. Host Michel Martin discusses the relevance and history of these groups with Dwayne Murray, polemarch of Kappa Alpha Psi, and Lawrence Ross, author of The Divine Nine: The History of African-American Fraternities and Sororities.

The newest addition to the National Mall is a monument honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Host Michel Martin discusses King's legacy and the memorial's meaning with Martin King III, the oldest son of the slain civil rights leader; and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young, a King confidant.

Natasha Trethewey was recently awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection Native Guard. Trethewey grew up bi-racial in Mississippi, and her mother was murdered by her stepfather; these, along with the South, are recurring themes in her poetry.

Fresh Air's critic-at-large reviews a new DVD set featuring two masterpieces by French filmmaker Chris Marker: 1962's La Jetee and 1984's Sans Soleil. The first is a science-fiction story set in a post-apocalyptic Paris; the narrator of the brilliantly perceptive Sans Soleiltells viewers about the letters she's received from a globe-trotting friend; her monologue is accompanied by footage from around the world.

Michael Moore is known for causing corporations and public officials some discomfort in documentaries such as Roger and Me and Fahrenheit 9/11. In his latest picture, Sicko, he casts a critical look at the U.S. health care system.

Dreamgirls writer and director Bill Condon talks about making the movie. Condon also tells Farai Chideya about his choice to fill the role Jennifer Holiday played on Broadway.

"The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" -- a broom-toting, gun-wielding African-American woman -- established the reputation of artist Betye Saar. That was in 1972. At age 80, she's still combining scraps and souvenirs of the past into provocative works of art.

In American fiction, TV and film, suburbia has long stood as shorthand for repression. It's a place of "wide lawns and narrow minds," as Earnest Hemingway put it. But representations of the suburbs have taken on a different shape of late.

African-American playwright Lynne Nottage is the author of several works, including Crumbs from the Table of Joy. Nottage has just been named a recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award. The Brooklyn-based artist talks about her work and what the award means for her future in the performing arts.