What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice

Gr 3-5–This book follows the development of Lorraine Hansberry’s writing career. It begins with her childhood goal of writing about the stories happening in her neighborhood, followed by her difficulty in finding the right focus for her writing as she grew older, and ending with successfully writing a play about her family’s experience moving from their Black neighborhood in Chicago to a white neighborhood nearby where they were not accepted by their neighbors. Hansberry’s play based on her family’s move showed how her parents were determined to keep their new house, despite facing hostile mobs and name-calling. Hansberry’s father took his case to the Supreme Court, where he won. He demonstrated that he had the right to live anywhere he wanted to. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, made it to Broadway, where it portrayed the true experience of her family. In the process of writing, Hansberry also revealed the truth about many other Black people’s experiences. Leslie mentions that Hansberry realized that she was attracted to women, and how that was part of finding her voice and identity. It also shows how members of the Black community supported and celebrated Hansberry’s work.