When Lorraine Hansberry was a child, her parents won a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case against housing discrimination, and taught her, “Our stories can change the world.” Inspired by the many prominent Black leaders drawn to her parents’ orbit, Hansberry sought to find her own voice as a playwright.
She struggled, though, as “a young, unmarried Black woman,” and married a man, although she knew “something was missing” in their relationship. Later, as she worked on her play, Raisin in the Sun, inspired by her parents’ story, she realized she couldn’t create characters true to themselves unless she was true to herself, too. She stopped ignoring her attraction to women and came out to her husband, who just wanted her to be happy. She then shared a draft of her play with her friend James Baldwin, a writer and “a man who loved men.” He encouraged her, even though investors rejected the play or asked for changes she was unwilling to make. Despite a small, shaky start, the play took off, eventually making Hansberry the first Black woman to have a play on Broadway. She had found a way to share the stories she knew needed to be told, “and the world was listening.”
This powerful and lyrical biography by Jay Leslie recognizes and celebrates both Hansberry’s Black and queer identities, showing how they shaped her and her work. The illustrations by Loveis Wise are bold and dynamic, sometimes giving us glimpses of Hansberry’s life and other times showing the pages and thoughts swirling in her head. The book offers a compelling case for the power of stories—a point reinforced by being a very good story in itself.
Backmatter includes brief descriptions of some of the people who inspired Hansberry, a list of additional resources, and citations.
Highly recommended.
