Annie Potts and Loraine Toussaint, stars of Lifetime Television’s “Any Day Now,” joined the Ohio State and Columbus community in an open forum concerning diversity and racial relations entitled, “Can We Talk?” Friday at Weigel Hall auditorium.

“Can we talk as a society?” the first part of the forum, was led by President William “Brit” Kirwan as he headed up an open discussion with the writers and stars of the series reflecting on clips from “Any Day Now” that were shown for the audience.

The dramatic series looks at the relationship between two women who became childhood friends in Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement. Toussaint plays a powerful black attorney while Potts plays a white woman who stays home to raise a family. Toussaint tries to open the eyes of Potts to stereotypes and racial issues that blacks face on a daily basis.

Show creator Nancy Miller derived her idea from the popular late ’80s and early ’90s sitcom “The Wonder Years.” Instead of two young boys growing up, Miller shifted the focus to two young girls from mixed-race backgrounds because no one has really done it. She combined the two to come up with “Any Day Now.” Miller felt that picking the show’s writers was one of the most important steps because she wanted a diverse writing staff. Her seven-person staff includes four black women, two men and two white women that all come from different backgrounds, religions, beliefs and ethnicities.

Not only did the panel of community leaders and students represent diverse backgrounds, but the audience was an assorted mix as well. The clips from the show proved powerful as the audience laughed at times and fell silent at others.

Author and journalist Farai Chideya, named by Newsweek to its “Century Club” of 100 people to watch in the new millennium, moderated the second part of the program titled “Can we talk as a community?” Questions were fielded from the audience and directed to any of the forum members and the writers and actresses of the show.

Columbus City Attorney Janet Jackson was asked if she believed race relations had improved over the last 10 years and what it would take to put an end to racism. “In individual situations, I would say sometimes I think it’s improved in terms of race relations. I can see it here in the city of Columbus. I can see it in my own office. I can see individuals who are really talking really getting to know each other,” Jackson said.

However, she added, “We truly have to get to know each other. We still live very segregated lives, typically the only time we come together would be at work or on college campuses. For those of us who have the opportunity to make change whether it is the mayor, The Dispatch or the city attorney, you can conscientiously make sure that where you can foster or create diversity that you do it. I don’t think it (racism) is going to go away in 10 years.”

“We have to get up every day and ask, ‘How do we improve relationships period?’ ” said Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman. It was this theme that continued through out the show; that race and diversity issues have to be tackled on a daily basis and not just during forums, although forums help facilitate discussion and change.