T o Be Young Gifted ahd Black (157

Introduction by James Baldwin
Adapted by Robert Nemirof



Summary

This book as shown that Lorraine Hansberry is a very strong women. She sets goals for herself and she does not stop until she reaches them. When she was diagnosed with ulcers and anemia, she till continued writing her stories, she was unable to type it her self so her husband helped. In one winter she was able to write three different pieces of writing including her first musical Laughing Boy. After she finished she already started thinking about her next book.
author a very good roll One of the things that she always wanted to do is move to Europe. the book didn't really say if she did or not. After reading this book i can truly say that Lorraine Hansberry is inspiringmodel.

Quote

As she said "If anything should happen before 'tis done-may I trust that all commas and periods will be placed and someone will complete my thoughts"(Nemiroff 261).

Reaction

I think this quote is saying that Lorraine Hansberry wants people to follow her footsteps. She wants her glory to continue on in the future. she wants people to think as her. she might of wanted another African American woman to take her spot after she's gone. Maybe she wants to be a legend and one way to do that is to be a model for other authors and people of her race.

To Be Young Gifted and Black (117-157)

Summary


Toussaint L'Ouverture was a Haitian liberator and also Lorraine Hansberry hero she was obsessed with the idea of writing a play or a novel about him. two years latter she started working on a play about Toussaint L'Ouverture. she tried to write a men and not lose the wonder of his magnitude.
At the time when she was writing this play Lorraine Hansberry was very lonely. she spend most of her days at home writing. but all of her work paid off, because she was an incredible writer and had a very successful play.
Lorraine Hansberry has faced many set backs in her life time from going to an all black school to living in a all white neighborhood all of her life experiences helped write all her stories and shape her into becoming an excellent author.

Quote

As she said "Have torn up another twenty pages-open another ream-sharpened another dozen pencils... and now? what? They say that one should set a schedule and keep to it no matter what"( Hansberry 171).

Reaction

This quote shows that everyone struggles in life, and the best thing to do is not give up. You have to keep going no matter and eventually your dreams will come true. If Lorraine Hansberry had given up every time something was to hard she would have never become such an incredible writer.

To Be Young Gifted and Black (92-117)

Summary

Lorraine Hansbury won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play of the season for the play A Raisin in the Sun. It was loved by many, the play allowed people to see what a wonderful writer she was. One question that people always ask her is "Why did you write the play?" Her answer was to show that African Americans are people too. She wanted people to see what an African American's life is on a day to day base. A Raisin in the Sun was her most successful play it was also her first one to go to Broadway, she was the first African America women to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for the best American play.

Quotation

She stated that "It probably is the most fulfilling experience a human-being can have to try and create something and to have it received with any measure of recognition for the effort" (Hansberry 111).

Reaction

I think that Lorraine Hansberry was referring more to African Americans when she said this quote. This is because she had just written her play A Raisin in the Sun and it was a fulfilling experience for her especially being African American. She was trying to tell us that we can do anything if we put our minds to it.

To Be Young Gifted And Black

Adapted by Robert Nemiroff

Introduction by James Baldwin

( pg. 52-92)

SUMMARY

Lorraine Hansberry move to New York City when she was 20 years old, which was the jump start of her writing career. She got her first job working for the new "Negro paper,'' FREEDOM. life in New York was not easy she lived with tree other girls, she was away from home and was expected to make a life of her own. while living in New York she meet her husband Bobby, and she also wrote her play A Raisin in the Sun which was the triumph of her success
While reading the book I learned that she wrote the play to show the truth about an African American's life at the time, she wanted people to realize that we are all equal, she wanted people to know the straggles that African Americans had to over come on a day to day bases.

QUOTATION

As he said ''The white boys in the streets, they look at me and think of sex. They look at me and that's all they think .... Baby, you could be Jesus in drag-but if you're brown they're sure you're selling" ( Nemiroff 78).

REACTION


When I read this quote I thought that African American women were not treated with respect, also they were judged basted on their skin. People labeled them and did not give them any credit.
African American women had to over come a lot of obstacles due to jaundiced people.

To Be Young, Gifted and Black (3-52)

Adapted by Robert Nemiroff
Introduction by James Baldwin

summary

To Be Young, Gifted and Black follows the life of Lorraine Hansberry recording her childhood and life accomplishments.
The foundation of the autobiography brings us back to her early days as a African American girl living in Chicago. Lorraine Hansberry went to a segregated school she only obtained one-half of the education given by the Board of Education in her city. As a result she was unable to count properly. in school she would often get beat up; due to her class in society. She was known as a rich girl because her father was a middle class businessman. this experience made her become a rebel. Her High school career was no different it was filled with violence and hate. When she started college she describes it as being unspeakably dull and irrelevant. Her days consisted of note-taking, lectures and lads. Her least favorite class was physical geography. Thus, it is with no dough that Lorraine Hansbery had rough life where she was judged and ridiculed, she overcame many challenges from going to a segregated school to just being African American. It is with no dough that Lorraine Hansberry is a very gifted women

Quote

She stated ''This is what is meant when we speak of the scars,that marks that the ghettoized child carries through life. To be imprisoned in the ghetto is to be forgotten-or deliberately cheated of one's birthright-at best"(Hansberry 36).

Reaction

when I read this quote the words that jumped out at me was "Deliberately cheated of one's birthright". Witch means that African Americans were not given any chance of accomplishing anything in their lives. At the start of their childhood society let them know where their place was, and what they would become. They were not given a fair chance of being successful. They were bound to fail.