Coolness and Courage: a Buffalo Soldier Play

Coolness and Courage is a one-act play which shows how a boy in trouble named Raheem learns to make the right decisions. Sentenced to community service in a nursing home, he meets a resident who tells him the history of the Buffalo Soldiers, the tough African-American fighting men who overcame prejudice, Native American warriors, and terrible living conditions to pacify the Old West. After learning how those heroes overcame adversity with honor, Raheem has the chance to do something similar when his former partners in crime make him an offer. Designed to be set up and performed in one classroom period, with time left for discussion, Coolness and Courage has been successfully performed for schools, youth groups, and churches by young men who faced the same inner-city challenges Raheem has to confront in the play.