Civil Rights In Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin In The Sun

In 1971, Alvin Ailey choreographed Cry, a three part work solo dance set to gospel music that describes an emotional journey filled with struggle, hardships, defeat, survival and joy. It was intended as a birthday present to Alvin’s mother and a dedication to all black women everywhere. The first part of the dance is the struggle of trying to maintain pride irrespective of the opposition faced from outside. The second part reveals the sorrow within after the woman’s pride has been shattered into pieces and finally the third part is a spirited celebration of finding strength and joy in God. Even though cry was dedicated to only black women, i argue the notion that all women both black and white of the nineteenth century could relate

She is also upset because Walter is giving in to racial tension and calling Mr. Lindner back to negotiate taking money in exchange for not moving into the white neighborhood. Lena immediately snaps back and calls out Beneatha for not learning to care for her brother. In this scene Lena’s maternal instinct really shines through. Even though she is disappointed in Walters foolishness and lack of pride, she knows that Walter is at his lowest point and that persecution and ridicule will not help the situation in any way. She also understands that his pursuit of money wasn't for self interest but to make things better for the whole family. It is also important to remember that “A Raisin in the Sun” is a play, the line “There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing” can also be interpreted as a direct address to the audience who at the time of this piece would have been predominantly white. Lena could have been seen as a voice advocating for social acceptance of black

To a certain extent, Harlem authors, artists and musicians of the Harlem Renaissance contributed in shaping the later 1960s civil rights movement. For instance, the artists of the Harlem Renaissance created works that would change the thoughts of Americans and inspire artists and later artists to use art to protest racism. Moreover, the Harlem Renaissance helped in changing political mindsets, which made the policy reforms in the 1960s easier to execute for the civil rights movement. However, the critics of the Harlem Renaissance have claimed that artists turned to mimicking white, middle class culture, in contrast to the attitude of the civil rights movement where African Americans focused on forging their own unique identity. Furthermore,

The reading “Popular music and the civil war” explained the heavy influence that music had leading up to and during the civil war. Music was used to express the way Americans, those in the north or south, were feeling during this time. Through their lyrics, writers and singers were able to convey their feelings on topics such as being separated from loved ones, losing someone, patriotism for the confederates or the union, and anything else that related to war time. Many of these songs appealed to the Americans because they could easily relate to what the lyrics were saying. Therefore, songs were being greatly produced during this time because people were purchasing the music, whether that was by going to see the performance of it, or buying

The topic of Social Justice will be examined as well as black consciousness, religion and police brutality. In this paper, we will look at these specific topics in level of importance as well as examine the lyrics from Strange fruit and Mississippi goddamn by Nina Simone as well as Alright and the Blacker the Berry from Kendrick Lamar. These two artists have truly embodied the meaning of black resistance from the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Also, their music has great symbolism and helped move the culture forward in the fight to end Social Injustice. The definition of black resistance is going against the establishment that is been provided for us and creating new rules. Also, understanding the concept of empowering

In Lorraine Hansberry’s play A Raisin in the Sun, the characters of Mama, Walter ,and Beneatha are faced with hardships associated with their dreams being destroyed by discriminatory housing,racial inequality and lack of support from her family towards her education. In the play all the characters have some kind of dream. Mama wants to get a house for the family, Walter wants to have money to provide for his family and plans to do that with a liquor store, and Beneatha wants to become a doctor. Beneatha is going to school and at the same time she’s trying to discover herself,but her family is not supportive of this. Mama did unfortunately lose her husband, and the family is receiving a life insurance check for $10,000.

People have dreams to do or be what makes them happy by setting goals to reach their dream. Dreams are almost like goals that people create in their mind to try to motivate them self to achieve their dream. The American Dream is the idea that everyone who is a U.S. citizen should have an equal opportunity to be successful and benefit through their hard-work, determination, and initiative. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, Beneatha Younger’s dream is to become a doctor and build a career/life for herself without anyone providing for her which connects to the American Dream through her independence, hard-work, and determination.

The genre of blues exploded into the blues craze during the 1920’s. During this time, white record producers saw the untapped goldmine that was blues music performed by people of color. Ma Rainey was one of them, and to some, one of the first, giving her the title, ‘The Mother of Blues’. The 1920’s was not only an era of continuing homophobia from the past (although that would change, briefly, into a mild form of acceptance until the more conservative 1930’s), but also of harsh racism. And yet, one singer, Ma Rainey’s, broke these restrictions. Her audience and shows flourished with both whites and blacks, peacefully mingling together to behold Ma’s performances. In this era taut with fear over race, both whites and black adored her.

For African Americans, jazz music, has always had a political undercurrent. Slave songs spoke of the “Israelites” enslaved by the Egyptians, such as in Go Down Moses, symbolising their own yearning for freedom. However, it took time for the assertion of the political message to develop in a more discernible way. Jazz’s status as a form of entertainment had effectively subdued the message for many years, because of the ostracisation of those involved and because of the early popularity of the white swing bands. The majority of jazz musicians were not political activists, rarely explicitly political in their work, however, they often expressed their political ideals, sometimes more subtley other times more overtly through their music. It is only

“Women are supposed to cook and do house chores… Women should be responsible for raising children… Men should tell women what they should do… Men are superior than women.” Gender expectations are evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and the society in Korea. Due to their different culture and lifestyle, The Youngers, the African American family, in A Raisin in the Sun have gender expectations that are different from the those in Korea. Gender expectations in the Youngers and Korea and are mainly noticeable in these three categories: occupation, personality traits, and physical appearance.

A Raisin in the Sun addresses major social issues such as racism and feminism which were common in the twentieth century. The author, Lorraine Hansberry, was the first playwright to produce a play that portrayed problematic social issues. Racism and gender equality are heavily addressed throughout the play. Even though we still have these issues today, in the 1950’s and 60’s the issues had a greater part in society. Racism and gender have always been an issue in society, A Raisin in the Sun is an important piece of American history during that time period. The famous play shows the audience the life it was like to live as a black female, and shows the struggles that the Young family faced being the first African American family to move into a white neighborhood. This play is considered a

Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” led a great quest for the Younger household. Raisin is set in subsidized housing in Southside Chicago, in which three Black female relatives live and interact with their brother, husband, and son Walter. African Americans were frowned upon before the writing of “A Raisin in the Sun”. However, it her notorious story provided individuals of multiple races new hope for life. In 2006, Diana Adesola Mafe provided the world with her opinion of “A Raisin in the Sun”. Diana Adeolsa Mafe wrote an article and named it “Black Women on Broadway: The Duality of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and Ntozake Shange's for colored girl” (Mafe, 2006). In addition to Lorraine Hansberry and Diana Adesola Mafe, other African American women confronted these issues in the 1950s among the uncontained political division and Civil Rights efforts to resolve conflict.

The Sixties were an exciting period with the beginning of a social, economic and Cultural Revolution, influenced by the music industry that was deeply involved into causes. This propensity took place in a turbulent period where some folks called it the "decade of discontent" because of the race riots and the demonstrations against the Vietnam War. However, other individuals called it the decade of "peace, love, and harmony", because of the peace movements and the emergence of Hippies, called “flower children.” This decade was about assassinations, unforgettable fashion, new styles of music, civil rights, gay and women 's liberation, Vietnam, peace marches, sexual freedom, drug usage, Summer of Love and Woodstock Festival. All of these factors caused a revolutionary transformation in the world of well-liked music, establishing melodies as a form of raise voices and express feelings.

Music is not only used to capture peoples hearing but it is used to power peoples minds through the power of an individuals voice. Music served a critical role in the African American’s lives, as it was used to uplift their spirits as well as providing them with hope and strength to fight for civil rights and overcome segregation between white superiority and the unfair treatment of the inferior black.

A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, the play encourages women to develop an identity for themselves, particularly through education and career. Beneatha dreams to be a doctor, which is a male-dominated profession. She says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 33). This shows her feminist attitude in the play when Beneatha takes a largely optimistic stance when facing troubles of entering a male-dominated profession, implying that she is a ‘non-conformist’. Additionally, Beneatha refuses to “just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 22), as her chauvinistic brother, Walter Lee, expects her to be. This is depicted by the Beneatha’s sarcastic retort to Walter: “Forgive me for ever wanting anything at all!” (Hansberry 21), when they quarrel about Beneatha’s high ambitions and unruly independence she gained through education. This illustrates her