cter befriends Hambone (Don C. Coles), a homeless man. Cheated out of a ham by a white butcher whose fence he painted, Hambone has spent the last nine years trying to collect his payment. His vocabulary has been reduced to a single sentence--"I want my ham!"--and the scenes in which Sterling helps him increase it to include statements like "Black is beautiful" are extremely powerful. The pride that keeps Hambone in the struggle is the most telling glimpse Wilson's play offers into the shift from civil rights to Black Power. ...
