SIGHTED EYES | FEELING HEART Sierra Kay
Lorraine Hansberry
SIGHTED EYES | FEELING HEART Sierra Kay
I always thought Lorraine Hansberry was a fantastic writer . And she was . No one argues that point , but her personal story stretches broader and deeper than my minute understanding , and it was wonderfully displayed in the documentary Lorraine Hansberry : Sighted Eyes | Feeling Heart .
One day , a little notice popped in my Facebook feed because someone I know , might have known , a friend of a friend , was interested in attending a viewing of Lorraine Hansberry : Sighted Eyes | Feeling Heart at the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago .
I thought , why not ? And I am so glad I did . To say Lorraine Hansberry was a great writer is like saying Nina Simone was a great singer . It focuses solely on their talent while missing their drive , their impact , their fire .
Now , while the documentary would have been more than enough , the evening began with a question and answer session with Tracy Heather Strain . The ability to listen to Tracy , the writer , director , and producer , share the struggles she had finding funding to get the project completed is inspiring to say the least .
Initially , she was turned down for grants . She and her husband rolled up their sleeves and began the painstaking process of fundraising . She conducted a Kickstarter campaign and kept grinding and grinding until someone said yes . Once she received two grants , other monies followed .
Her struggle didn ’ t take a day , a month or a year . It took fourteen years from inception to completion to the tune of $ 1.5 million . Motivation .
So the showing at the DuSable Museum in January 2018 that is entrenched in displaying and amplifying the African American experience ; highlighted how an African American woman was able to clear obstacles to write , direct and produce a documentary about an African American woman whose voice gave rise to the challenges of her people in this country . If I had a mic in my pocket , I would have dropped it .
The ability to mine through tons and tons of information and produce a string that ties through the pieces is an amazing feat . The Lorraine Hansberry story alone has several stories embedded in it . However , Strain focused her documentary on Hansberry ’ s impact on the civil rights movement .
Lorraine Hansberry learned about activism at the knee of her father , a real estate broker . He bought houses and chopped them up into kitchenettes to rent to African Americans migrating to Chicago .
Eventually , Lorraine ’ s father moved the family to the Washington Park neighborhood in Chicago , which was predominately white at the time . Not surprising , their arrival was met with significant resistance from the neighbors . The experience included a brick through the window , which seemed to be a consistent signal for residential discontent during the 50s and 60s .
Law enforcement tried to force the family to move , but Hansberry ’ s father went to court . The landmark case Hansberry vs Lee ( 1940 ) went all the way to the Supreme Court . Lorraine ’ s father was eventually forced to move out of the neighborhood . However , five hundred new properties opened to new residents of color . Her father fought the good fight and continued fighting different injustices for years .
Do any parts of that story sound familiar ? If not , you have not read nor seen A Raisin in the Sun . Do it now . We ’ ll wait .
A Raisin the in the Sun wasn ’ t simply a well-written play , but contextually relevant to the African American experience with segregation which was / is strong in Chicago . Before running on Broadway , the play ran in Philadelphia and eventually played to sold-out crowds .
Sidney Portier , who played the character Walter
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