Next week do the regular thing on your station for 167 hours . Then make sure you find a place of honor for this one hour.

Because "The Voices Of Civil Rights Project" accomplishes what only radio can – a soul-to-soul connection. And "Voices" takes up the special charge of public radio, to do good, to give voice to the people. There is something wonderfully educative about learning the very inside of another human being without facing the made-up rouge and blush of a book's cover, judging only the words, in black and white.

The letters that provide the primary source content of this hour are as varied as America but they are consistently, disarmingly honest. The production and packaging of "Voices" dispenses with the funeral procession pace of old-style docs – Prime Time Radio host Mike Cuthbert, AARP's Rick Bowers, and Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights provide sharp, personal commentary that frames the vignettes simply and elegantly.

Really, this massive project represents a remarkable success for inclusiveness and broad-thinking on the part of AARP, LCCR, and the Library of Congress. "Voices" is not just a gift shared between races and cultures, it is a bequest to a coming generation.

Incidentally, the companion website also presents terrific content, including arresting images from former WESUN commentator and Newsweek photographer Lester Sloan.

"One of the most interesting things I learned during my 70-day photographic odyssey across America," Sloan says, "is that average people can be both heroic and regal just being themselves." Keep your ears on this prize and, an hour from now, you'll know just how insightful Lester Sloan is.

[Production note: "Voices" ends at 54:00; the balance of this hour is filled with a PrimeTime "Postscript" feature.]

This is a wonderful piece, maybe one of the best I've heard on PRX. The stories are moving and well-read, Wade and Rick are well-spoken interviewees and most of all the whole thing is so inspirational. These stories need to be heard by everyone, no matter the skin color, no matter the background. This isn't just interesting, or compelling, but necessary and important. The stories in this piece, and their sibling stories, will be an important part of our recorded history.