A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

Background The title A Raisin in the Sun is an allusion to the poem “Harlem: A Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1902, to a family of abolitionists. His grandfather was Charles Henry Langston, the brother of John Mercer Langston, who was the first black American to be elected to public office in 1855. After high school, Hughes went on to Columbia University to study engineering, but soon dropped out to pursue his first love – poetry. He never looked back.

Langston Hughes has earned a place amongst the greatest poets America has ever produced. But more than that, Hughes has given a voice to the African-American experience. Like the sharp peal of a jazz trumpet, Hughes’ poetry announced to the world that the streets of black America contained a culture rich and vibrant and fiercely poetic. This announcement was to become his life’s mission. Written by Jeff Trussell

“Harlem: A Dream Deferred” 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? Langston Hughes, 1951

The Harlem Renaissance Click the title William H. Johnson Roaring Twenties, The. AIMS Multimedia. 2003. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

In the early 1900’s, particularly in the 1920’s, African-American literature, art, music, dance, and social commentary began to flourish in Harlem, a section of New York City. This African-American cultural movement became known as “The New Negro Movement” and later as the Harlem Renaissance. More than a literary movement, the Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. African-Americans were encouraged to celebrate their heritage.

The main factors contributing to the development of the Harlem Renaissance were African-American urban migration, trends toward experimentation throughout the country, and the rise of radical African-American intellectuals. The Harlem Renaissance transformed African-American identity and history, but it also transformed American culture in general. Never before had so many Americans read the thoughts of African-Americans and embraced the African-American community’s productions, expressions, and style.

Black woman to be produced on Broadway! Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry, an American playwright and painter, whose A Raisin In the Sun (1959) was the first drama by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway! 1930-1965

Lorraine Hansberry, born May 19, 1930, in Chicago, was the daughter of a prominent real-estate broker and the niece of a Harvard University professor of African history. Her parents were intellectuals and activists. When Lorraine was eight, her parents bought a house in a white neighborhood, where they were welcomed one night by a racist mob. Their experience of discrimination there led to a civil rights case; her father argued and won this anti-segregation case before the Illinois Supreme Court, upon which the events in A Raisin in the Sun were loosely based.

She studied at the University of Wisconsin for two years, and in 1950 she moved to New York, where she started her career as a writer. Her premature death, at the age of thirty-four, cut short her promising career. Lorraine Hansberry died of cancer on January 12, 1965.

Civil Rights

Changing an Unjust Past: The Efforts of the Civil Rights Movement Click the Title Civil Rights. The Long Road to Equality. United Learning. 2000. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

And Freedom and Justice for All: The Emergence of the Civil Rights Movement Click the Title Civil Rights. The Long Road to Equality. United Learning. 2000. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

Segregation in Twentieth Century America Click the Title Civil Rights. The Long Road to Equality. United Learning. 2000. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

Marching In Alabama: The Civil Rights Act Click the Title Civil Rights. The Long Road to Equality. United Learning. 2000. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>

Assessing the Impact of the Civil Rights Movement Click the Title Civil Rights. The Long Road to Equality. United Learning. 2000. unitedstreaming. 24 October 2006 <http://www.unitedstreaming.com/>