A very comprehensive biography of an important American artist of the 20th Century. I really enjoyed learning about Lorraine Hansberry and how her work influenced and found its way into her work. A well written academic text that is not the usual biographic structure that I typically read. but it was a welcome one.

Hansberry is such a fascinating figure that I now must go read her work.

This is a comprehensive, meticulously researched and detailed account of Lorraine Hansberry’s life, work and political activism. It’s a valuable and important contribution to Hansberry studies, but not an easy read. Academic and scholarly, dry and detached, it offers the less invested reader little to leaven its seriousness. I found myself skipping large chunks, and as I am not that familiar with the plays, some of those sections were quite hard going too. What it does have in its favour for me, however, is the thoughtful, intelligent and insightful analysis of the work, and I’m sure that if I ever get to see one of the plays performed I will certainly be referring to this study. The political analysis, though, I found harder to concentrate on. Just a bit too much of a thesis with few concessions to a less informed reader.

Whew Chile... The burdens & pressure we carry not of our own., This is one for the coffee table. It read is a reminder that we all deal with things differently. Her fight against racism. She was truly Young, Gifted & Black!!!

What I really liked about this book is that it is not a "typical" chronological biography. Instead, we get a perspective and insights on who Lorraine Hansberry was mainly through her writing and other research (interviews of her and others). Colbert's book brings a much needed lens to Hansberry's work -- that of a Black Feminist who also was a lesbian in a heterosexual marriage. One of the insights is about Hansberry's use of realism as a "witness" - realism calls attention to how "belief, history and desire shape how and what we see and witness "draws from the black radical tradition of affirmation often necessitated by racism's power to isolate individuals."

This book also gives extensive coverage to some of her other writing such as the screenplay "The Drinking Gourd" - which is part of a "second reconstruction" - commissioned by NBC but never produced it. Hansberry felt that "undoing the damage of slavery requires undoing the economic, racial and gender systems that emerge in part through homophobia." This book also gives in-depth analysis of other works of Hansberry's that have been eclipsed by "A Raisin in the Sun."

As I read this book, I realized that many of Hansberry's ideas were of the time and yet ahead of the time and still very relevant today. I highly recommend this book.

Radical Vision: A Biography of Lorraine Hansberry (2021) is written by Professor of African American Studies, Soyica Diggs-Colbert, who teaches at Georgetown University. The book meticulously follows the Literary Criticism format of analysis of published and unpublished work of Lorraine Hansberry (1930-65). Hansberry became a household name after her award winning play “A Raisin in the Sun” appeared on Broadway (1959).
Hansberry was born and raised in Chicago. Both her parents were college educated professionals and politically active members of the Republican Party. After an unsuccessful run for Congress (1940), Lorraine’s father, an attorney and real estate developer sued the Federal government for the rights of Black Americans to live in neighborhoods of their choice. He won the lawsuit, but lost the war. Black American’s who attempted to live in or around white neighborhoods during that time faced violence from racist individuals and/or mobs. Mrs. Hansberry guarded the family home with a firearm. From an early age, Lorraine learned critical thinking skills related to racial inequality and economic/social injustice. Lorraine stated that “the slow death pf American racism led to the loss of her (beloved) father” in 1946.

After attending college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and The New School, Lorraine accepted a position reporting for “Freedom”-- a small indie press that shared space with the Council of African Affairs. Under the guidance of Paul Robeson (editor) along with Alice Childress and W.E.B. DuBois, Lorraine developed her writing style and published articles. Her voice became more powerful, in what she called “the movement”. Lorraine joined the “Sojourners For Truth and Justice” (STJ) a female centered political organization, and the “Student Non-Violent Coordination Committee (SNCC): “Change Agents” received training in civil disobedience from Ella Josephine Baker at Shaw University, Raleigh N.C.

In 1950’s America, with the fear of Communism and influence of McCarthyism, the interracial marriage of Hansberry to Robert Nemiroff (1929-91) a white Jewish intellectual, book editor, playwright and music composer—was neither widely accepted or celebrated (1953). Despite the fact that Hansberry identified as a “heterosexually married Lesbian” Nemiroff’s unconditional love, devotion and support for Lorraine furthered her success as a writer, artist, and celebrity as a radical public figure. Nemiroff is credited for establishing the Lorraine Hansberry Archive located at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in the New York Public Library.

Along with James Baldwin and other intellectuals Lorraine met with attorney general Robert F. Kennedy who sought to understand the motivations behind racial violence and social unrest. The country was alarmed by the terrorist Sixteenth Street Church bombing in Birmingham, AL. (1963). Lorraine observed with a passion of vengeance-- it is a “sting” when exercised on children. Nina Simone responded with the protest anthem “Mississippi Goddamn” (1964).

The interest in Lorraine Hansberry has increased over the years, the details of her unconventional life are really fascinating, she is regarded as a visionary and historical figure of the LGBTQ community. Professor Diggs-Colbert relies on previously published research for this book, and the overall focus is her interpretation of Hansberry’s articles and plays; rather than a biographical narrative. The photos included and pages of Hansberry’s artwork certainly add appeal to the book. (3*GOOD) ** With thanks to the Yale University Press via NetGalley for the DDC for the purpose of review.