Most well known for her play A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry became a significant playwright and writer in her brief life. Born and educated in Chicago, her formative years provided rich material for her future writing drawing from her family’s life experiences and the cultural giants they met.
Hansberry moved to New York in 1950 to begin her writing career. In 1959, she became the first African American woman to write a show produced on Broadway. The play was A Raisin in the Sun, it surprised people with its successful run, winning the Drama Critic’s Circle Award. Later the play was made into a movie starring Sidney Poitier.
Hansberry’s writings included diaries, journals, letters and essays as well as other plays. Hansberry was also an activist for social justice who participated in many demonstrations, which is how she met her husband, Robert Nemiroff. After her death in 1965, he pulled together excerpts from her writing to create a drama, To be Young, Gifted and Black (1969), named after the title of the song written by Nina Simone in honor of her friend Lorraine Hansberry.
“I think that the human race does command its own destiny and that that destiny can eventually embrace the stars.”
Interested in learning more about the Love One Another initiative? Visit the archives.
If you find this work valuable, consider giving a donation to ensure this ministry continues. Thank you for your support!
