To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: An Informal Autobiography

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun happens to be one of my favorite books of all time. So reading an autobiography of her short life was bound to be interesting. James Baldwin, author of Go Tell It On The Mountain and other novels gives a really interesting preface, talking about his friendship with her and all of the memories, whether good or bad that they shared. The rest of the book chronicles her life growing up, including the landmark Hansberry vs. Lee Supreme court case and incorporating short scenes from the different plays that she has written. He once said that “it is not at all farfetched to suspect that what she saw contributed to the strain which killed her, for the effort to which Lorraine was dedicated is more than enough to kill a man.” African American literature is another genre in itself when it comes to the depth and strength of text in America and she strongly left an imprint for others up till this day.