“A small, shy, determined person, with that strength dictated by absolutely impersonal ambition: she was not trying to ‘make it’ — she was trying to keep the faith,” James Baldwin wrote of Lorraine Hansberry (May 19, 1930–January 12, 1965), whom he had met when she fiercely defended him as critics savaged a theatrical production of his novel Giovanni’s Room a year before she herself transformed theater and the cultural vocabulary of civil rights with A Raisin in the Sun — the first play by a black woman to be performed on Broadway, a play so quietly revolutionary that it incited an FBI report and so visionary that it replenished the faith of generations to come. She soon become Baldwin’s dear friend, his “Sweet Lorraine.” Nina Simone, one of her most intimate friends, honored her in the anthem “Young, Gifted and Black” — words drawn directly from a speech Hansberry had given to a group of young writers. W.E.B. Du Bois cherished her as his favorite student. Upon her untimely death at only 34, her model and mentor Langston Hughes — from whose verse Hansberry had borrowed the title of her revolutionary play — wrote in a poem dedicated to her:… Read full this story
- Lorraine Kelly just re-wore her favourite green tiger-print dress from Whistles
- What Do They Mean When They Say - I Love You ?
- Christine Lampard wears red hot Marks & Spencer jumper with a red Topshop skirt as she bids farewell to presenting Lorraine
- Eastender's star Lorraine Stanley admits she thinks she looks 'awful' on TV
- Christine Lampard shows off her natural curly hair for the first time on Lorraine
- Christine Lampard continues to show off her natural curly tresses as she returns to hosting duties on Lorraine... a day after unveiling style
- Court indicates Victorian woman Lorraine Nicholson 'unlikely' to be jailed for car crash that killed four linedancers
- Love Island stars Curtis Pritchard and Nathan Massey pay tribute to 'fantastic diamond' Caroline Flack and reveal how supportive she was as they navigated fame
- Who is Maura Higgins and is the ex-Dancing on Ice star still with her Love Island boyfriend Curtis Pritchard?
- BRITs 2020: Love Island's Montana Brown wows in a yellow corset and silver sheer dress as she joins co-star Amber Davies on the red carpet
Lorraine Hansberry, the Love of Freedom, and the Freedom of Love have 368 words, post on www.brainpickings.org at July 22, 2019. This is cached page on Travel Breaking News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.