Spotlight Reading Series

This year’s Spotlight Reading Series will feature works authored and inspired by Lorraine Hansberry. Over three days, we will explore her literary and political voice as a playwright, an activist, and a queer author from Chicago’s South Side.

The Spotlight Reading Series is from July 31 – August 2, 2024, and all events will be held at the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts (915 E 60th Street). All events are free and open to the public, and reservations are required.

Walking Tour with Essence McDowell: Lifting As They Climbed | July 25, 2024 at 4:30pm

In this special preamble to the series, explore the remarkable story of Lorraine Hansberry’s life – along with the lives of other powerful women throughout history – in this immersive walking tour.

A woman looks at the camera, she is wearing formal clothing. There is a geometric cut-out on the side of the image, where water is visible. There is text that reads, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black."

To Be Young, Gifted and Black: A Portrait of Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words | July 31, 2024 at 6:30pm

Join us for a staged reading of To Be Young, Gifted and Black: A Portrait of Lorraine Hansberry in Her Own Words, a play adapted from Lorraine’s own writings – unpublished plays, letters, interviews and journal entries.

TICKETS

Community Reads: To Be Young, Gifted and Black, A Memoir by Lorraine Hansberry | August 1, 2024 at 5:30pm

Explore Lorraine Hansberry’s memoir – To Be Young, Gifted and Black – through dinner and discussion. Dive into the text and Lorraine’s innermost thoughts, and connect with community members in small group conversations.

TICKETS

Screening of Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart | August 1, 2024 at 7:00pm

While most may know the widely studied and performed A Raisin in the Sun as their only reference point for Lorraine Hansberry, the documentary Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart makes abundantly clear that there is much more to know about the author. Meet the real Lorraine in this intimate film screening.

TICKETS

The Anticipation of Eve | August 2, 2024 at 7:00pm

As part of the official repository of the Lorraine Hansberry papers at the Schomburg Center, The Anticipation of Eve is part of a series of queer short stories Hansberry wrote under the pseudonym Emily Jones. Experience a performed reading and discussion of this rare text by artists zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal, AJ McClenon, and Bimbola Akinbola.

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Artwork: to render the infinite by zakkiyyah najeebah dumas-o’neal.

Sponsored in part by

Presented in partnership with

Creative Team

Creative Producer
Kamilah Rashied
Line Producer
Kelcie Beene

Related Events

A Raisin in the Sun → January 31 - March 2, 2025
Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play, a Pulitzer Prize, and the first play written by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway, Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN is a stunning portrayal of a family’s fight for dignity and the right to dream.