First, Renee talks with CLest Lanier, executive director of the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage, and board member Anthony Wright about the $25 million museum currently under construction in Louisville. The center, which will be the largest of its kind in the state, will also be the first institution to trace the historical achievements and accomplishments of African-American citizens throughout the state's history. Funding for the center has come from public and private donations, but concerns have been raised about its completion. Though 67 percent of the center is complete and donations have totaled $22 million, various fund - raising efforts are still underway to secure the necessary dollars to complete the center.

Renee also speaks with Dr. Gerald Smith, an author and history professor at the University of Kentucky, who is one of three editors of an encyclopedia to honor African Americans. Set for publication in 2011 , The Kentucky African-American Encyclopedia: Life and Culture in the Commonwealth will document the individuals, events and places often missing from Kentucky's history as it relates to African Americans. Entries are being written by librarians, historians, college professors and graduate students.

Smith, who is a minister and pastor, also talks about the seven-year project he and other scholars have undertaken to edit early sermons and letters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The collection of never-before-seen papers was recently published and offers historians and readers a rare glimpse inside the thoughts of a young King.

Connections with Renee Shaw is a KET production, produced by Renee Shaw and Carolyn Gwinn.