Drawing on Vygostky's zone of proximal development this study explores the ways preservice teachers engage with The Human Bean Activity that was designed to make visible the abstract idea of identity and community. This qualitative narrative analysis explores the talk produced by 47 predominantly White, straight, and female preservice teachers as they talked with each other about race, ethnicity, sexual identity, and their own identity in a multicultural literature class. Findings show students' use of song lyrics, humor, and shared laughter to relieve tension, build solidarity, and avoid stress. In addition these students challenged themselves and each other to better understand their own identities and communities. Some students were able to connect the activity to their own reading and begin to enact a new awareness and appreciation of diversity.