FIveTowns, One Book : Hansberry: A Theatrical Exploration of Redlining

Five Towns: One Book draws on the life and work of Lorraine Hansberry. Hansberry was most noted for her play, A Raisin in the Sun, about a Black family, which opened on Broadway to great success. It addressed many themes such as Redlining, Afrocentrism and who has access to the American Dream. 

Engage in a moderated discussion about redlining with theater director, Kevin R. Free (artistic director, Miles Square Theater), local redlining expert, Gregory Jost (Fordham University) and brilliant actors. There will be excerpts read from Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun and Bruce Norris’s play Clybourne Park, a present day spin off of Raisin, in addition to informative history about local redlining laws and how federal segregation affects our communities today.

Hansberry was the first Black playwright and the youngest American to win a New York Critics’ Circle award. Throughout her life she was heavily involved in the Civil Rights and Black Freedom Movements as an activist and journalist