Narrator
Annie McCall
Valerie
Miss Candy
Mrs. Harper
Doris
Mama Lucas
Ms. Ella
Nanna Maria
(archive footage)
Emelda West
Elsie Claviere
Mrs. Henry
Grandmother
Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
Margo
Mommit Porter
Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
Hortence
Sophia
Evangeline Ferguson
Grandmother (voice)
Rachel
Mrs. Lydia Wilson
Narrator
Narrator (voice)
Lucinda Purify
Rowena
Jackie's Mother
Corrine Dart
Zora Neale Hurston
Mother Sister
Mrs. Grimes
Female
Irene Whitfield
Grandmother Baxter
Leah Matanzima
Julia Augustine
Ruth Campanella
Netta's mother
Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
Sue Ann Lucas
Self (archive footage)
Laurie
Joan Robinson
Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Thief
Ruth Younger
Christine
Ruth
Elizabeth
Lucy Tyler
Irma Jackson
Rachel
Connie Brooks (uncredited)
Rae Robinson
Drugstore Girl
