2. Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Hansberry was born in Chicago on May 19, 1930, the youngest of four children. Her parents were well-educated, successful black citizens who publicly fought discrimination against black people. Hansberry grew up in Chicago. Although, unlike the South, Chicago had no official policy of segregation (the enforced separation of whites and Blacks), Chicago was still a striking example of a city carved into strictly divided black and white neighborhoods.
3. A Raisin In Sun portrays the struggles of an African American family living in poverty in 1950s Chicago. It was one of the first texts to portray the reality of family life for many African American families living in American cities in the 1950s, and for this reason, it was a revolutionary work for its time. Hansberry uses black vernacular throughout the play and broaches important issues and conflicts, such as poverty, discrimination, and the construction of African-American racial identity.