Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun , Drama, and Struggle

1. Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun, Drama, and Struggle

2. Lorraine Hansberry • May 19, 1930– January 12, 1965 • African American playwright • Also an author of political speeches, letters, and essays

3. Early Life • Youngest of four children of Carl Augustus Hansberry (a prominent real estate broker) and Nannie Louise Perry • She grew up on the south side of Chicago in the Woodlawn neighborhood.

4. Controversial Move • The family then moved into an all-white neighborhood, where they faced • Segregation in Chicago was not forced; but racial tensions naturally divided the city

5. Supreme Court case of Hansberry versus Lee • Hansberry's father engaged in a legal battle against a racially restrictive covenant that attempted to prohibit African-American families from buying homes in the area. • Though victors in the Supreme Court, Hansberry's family was subjected to what Hansberry would later describe as a "hellishly hostile white neighborhood." • This experience later inspired her to write her most famous work, A Raisin in the Sun.

6. Later Hansberry • Finding college to be uninspiring, Hansberry left in 1950 to pursue her career as a writer in New York City. • She worked on the staff of a Black newspaper called Freedom. It was at this time she wrote A Raisin in the Sun.

7. Basics of the Play • The story is based upon her family's own experiences growing up in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. • A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway

8. Social Background • Published in 1966 , four years after Rosa Parks’ was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a bus, sparking the Civil Rights Movement, Hansberry’s play illustrates black America’s struggle to gain equal access to opportunity and expression of cultural identity.

9. Sentiments in A Raisin… will be echoed by MLK in later speeches, marches, and rallies Martin Luther King, Jr.Civil-Rights Leader 1929-1968 I have a dream… a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

10. Importance of the Play • A Raisin in the Sun can be considered a battle for civil rights and drama because it addresses so many issues important during the 1950s in the United States • Hansberry creates in the Younger family one of the first showings of a black family on an American stage

11. Importance of Play, cont. • She uses black vernacular throughout the play • Broaches important issues and conflicts, such as poverty, discrimination, and the construction of African-American racial identity

12. Themes to Look For • Dreams • Money • Family • Women’s Rights • Racial Tensions and Discrimination • Assimilation • Cultural heritage • Self-Identity and Self-Expression

13. Harlem By Langston Hughes What happens to a dream deferred?      Does it dry up       like a raisin in the sun?       Or fester like a sore—       And then run?       Does it stink like rotten meat?       Or crust and sugar over—       like a syrupy sweet?       Maybe it just sags       like a heavy load. Or does it explode?