Honoring the great American playwright and civil rights leader. Investing in those following in her footsteps.
“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.” - Lorraine Hansberry
Honoring the great American playwright and civil rights leader. Investing in those following in her footsteps.
“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.” - Lorraine Hansberry
Los Angeles Installation
Lorraine Hansberry was a prolific playwright, journalist, and activist. Her play A Raisin in the Sun was the first play by an African American woman produced on Broadway on March 11, 1959, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It was revived on Broadway in 2004 and 2014. Generations of Black theater, television and film artists have been inspired by her masterpiece.
THE SCULPTURE
A figurative statue of Hansberry, by the renown sculptor Alison Saar, will tour the nation in 2022/2023. It will raise public awareness of the full breadth of Hansberry’s work and teachings, which are of the utmost importance at this crucial time in history.
THE FELLOWSHIP
A fellowship fund will cover not the tuition, but the living expenses, of female and non-binary dramatic writers of color in graduate school and allow them protected time to write, alleviating pressure from financial obligations. These writers will go on to create for the stage, television and film.
TOUR & PROGRAMMING
The tour will encompass three installations in NYC followed by a national tour of major cities and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We will work with local theaters and artists to present Hansberry’s work and that of contemporary writers of color concurrent with the sculpture’s placement. Our educational component will be led by our partners New Victory/New 42.
MEET MAMIE HANSBERRY
The Initiative recently sat down to capture a conversation between Mamie Hansberry (Lorraine's sister) and Taye Hansberry (Lorraine's great niece) as they discussed growing up in the Chicago Hansberry household and aspects of Lorraine's life that shaped her work. View the first segment here and click the button below to visit our full library of videos as they are released on YouTube.
MAKE AN IMPACT
The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative