Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965)
Filed under the name Lorraine · April 20, 2026
Lorraine Hansberry became the first Black woman to have a play produced on Broadway with 'A Raisin in the Sun,' and I'll be honest, theater isn't exactly my world — closest I ever got was a union hall meeting that occasionally had more drama in it than any stage show. But 'first' in an industry that's shut people out for that long isn't just an artistic accomplishment, it's a labor accomplishment too, in its own way — proving that the doors everyone said were locked for good reason weren't actually locked, they were just being held shut by people who benefited from keeping them that way. I spent thirty-four years fighting to get a seat at the table in negotiations where we weren't exactly welcome either, on a much smaller scale, and I know something about what it costs a person to be the first one through a door like that. Hansberry did it on a much bigger stage than any grievance meeting I ever sat in, and the fact that her name's still remembered for it says the door stayed open behind her, at least a little.