A Raisin in the - Seattle Repertory...

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Dear Theatregoer,

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun opens a window into multiple aspects of the African American experience in the United States. Great art addresses both the all-encompassing and the personal facets of human experience. A Raisin in the Sun does so by providing a glimpse into some of the challenges one family faces due to institutional racism. It also explores values, relationships, and personal struggles through a compelling cast of

complex and three-dimensional characters.

This guide aims to provide background for issues presented in the play and to connect these themes to the America we live in today.

We hope the personal and emotional qualities of this work of art will spark your interest in some of the larger conversations influencing the characters in A Raisin in the Sun. We hope you will expand on this Play Guide with your own opinions and experiences. After all, our unique points of view are what allow us to broaden our knowledge and understanding of the concepts passed on to us over the ages.

Enjoy the show,

Arlene Martínez-VázquezEducation DirectorSeattle Repertory Theatre

NOTE FROM OUR EDUCATION DIRECTOR

HISTORY ARTS LITERACY GEOGRAPHYSOCIAL STUDIES

P.S. Teachers, look out for links between each section of this guide with EALR & Common Core standards!

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A Trailblazer and a Timeline Lorraine Hansberry was the first African American woman to write a play performed on Broadway. Hansberry’s family struggled against the injustices of segregation in their Supreme Court case, Hans-berry v. Lee, which challenged the restrictions imposed on African Americans to lease or purchase homes in certain neighborhoods. Hansberry v. Lee is now cited in law classes as an example of how civil cases can be tried a second time as long as it is brought to the court by a new plaintiff who was not represented in the first civil action.

Hansberry recalled: “Twenty-five years ago, [my father] spent a small personal fortune, his consid-erable talents, and many years of his life fighting, in association with NAACP attorneys, Chicago’s ‘restrictive covenants’ in one of this nation’s ugliest ghettos. That fight also required our family to occupy disputed property in a hellishly hostile ‘white neighborhood’ in which literally howling mobs surrounded our house... My memories of this ‘correct’ way of fighting white supremacy in America include being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school. And I also remember my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our household all night with a loaded German Luger [pistol], doggedly guarding her four children, while my father fought the respectable part of the battle in the Washington court.”

A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway in 1959, be-came a film in 1961, a musical in 1973, and was revived on Broadway in 2004 and 2014. New film versions also came out in 1989 and 2008. A Raisin in the Sun also inspired the play Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris, which was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as Beneatha’s Place by Kwame Kwei-Armah.

This play undeniably influenced the American theatre and its relationship to the Civil Rights movement. See the timeline on the next page to compare important milestones in the Civil Rights Movement with the de-velopment of African American Theatre. After you look at the timeline, answer the questions below.

EALR HISTORY

4.1EALR ARTS

4.4

CCSS ELA LITERACY RI 7.3, 9-10.10

THINK/PAIR/SHARE1. Are there events on the Civil Rights timeline that you can clearly see the effects of today? Which one(s)? Why?2. Is there an event in either timeline that surprises you? Which one? Why?

Lorraine Hansberry, 1960. Photo by David Attie.

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1816 First record of African American Theatre. William Henry Brown starts the African Company in New York. This company attracts white patrons and serves as the training ground for the first black Shakespearean actors.

1823 Brown writes and produces the first play by an African American. Entitled King Shotaway, the play is based on a slave rebellion in St. Vincent. The production starred James Hewlett, the first African American Shakespearean actor, and Ira Aldridge.

1848 Blackface minstrel shows are the national art form, translating formal art such as opera into more popular terms for a general audience. Minstrel shows portray black people as dim-witted, lazy, buf-foonish, superstitious, happy-go-lucky, and musical.

Segregated drinking fountains, 1950. Photo by Elliot Erwitt.

1816 The American Colonization Society (ACS) is formed as a “gradual attempt” to end slavery. This group proposed the shipping of free African Americans to Liberia. ACS supporters saw this as the solution to racial tensions in the United States. The ACS shipped 12,000 African Americans before its dissolution on 1964.

African American Theatre Civil rights movement

1865 Final abolition of slavery in the United States.

1870 The Fifteenth Amendment is enacted, guaranteeing the right to vote will not be denied or abridged on account of race. At the same time, however, the first “Jim Crow” law is passed in Tennessee mandating the separation of African Americans from whites in most public spaces.

1827 Final abolition of slavery in New York State.

1896 Plessy v. Ferguson rules that states requiring separation of the races are within the bounds of the Constitution as long as equal accommodations are made for African Americans, thus establishing the “separate but equal” doctrine.

1900 African Americans face lynching as regular means of intimidation. Between 1886 and 1900, there are more than 2,500 lynchings in the nation, the vast majority of which occur in the Deep South. In the first year of the new century, more than 100 African Americans are lynched, and by World War I, more than 1,100.

1934 The National Housing Act is created, which establishes the Federal Housing Administration. While informal discrimination and segregation had existed in the United States, these agencies initiate the official practice of “redlining”—the method of denying services to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic makeups of those areas.

1916 Rachel, by Angelina Weld Grimke, is consid-ered the first successful African American play for its protest of The Birth of a Nation—a film famous for its technical achievement and infamous for its overtly racist message.

1921 Shuffle Along is the first musical written, produced, and performed by African Americans on Broadway.

1935 Langston Hughes’ play, Mulatto, debuts on Broadway. It is the first African American play on Broadway to be a commercial success.

1940 American Negro Theatre (ANT) and Negro Play-wrights’ Company (NPC) are established as an outgrowth of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP). NPC members includ-ed Richard Wright, Langston Hughes, and Edna Thomas.

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Sources:

1944 Library Theatre from Harlem further reinforces the progress of black theatre making it to Broadway with its production Anna Lucasa.

1955 Trouble in Mind is produced at the Greenwich Mews and wins the Obie Award for best Off-Broadway play, making playwright Alice Childress the first African American woman to be awarded the honor.

1959 Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun debuts on Broadway. Hansberry becomes the first African American woman to have a play on Broadway. The play reveals the struggles associated with black identity and the related roadblocks to achieving the American Dream.

1965 Amiri Baraka (originally LeRoi Jones) estab-lishes the Black Arts Repertory Theatre in Harlem. He inspires artists like playwright Ed Bullins and others in seeking to create a strong “black aesthetic” in American theatre.

1969 The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute is founded in Seattle, serving as both a neighborhood youth recreation center and an artistic space for black poets, dancers, and actors to train and perform. Seattle’s first black theatre company Black Arts/West is founded.

1983 August Wilson receives the Pulitzer Prize for his play Fences. This honor would be awarded to him again in 1990 for his play The Piano Lesson.

1990 Suzan-Lori Parks wins her first Obie Award for her play Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom. Subsequent awards include the 1996 Pulitzer for Venus, the 2002 Pulitzer for Topdog/Underdog, and the 2014 Obie for Father Comes Home From the Wars Parts 1, 2, & 3.

2006 The Hansberry Project is officially launched in Seattle as an African American theatre lab, led by African American artists and designed to provide the community with consistent access to the African American artistic voice.

1947 Levittown, America’s first planned community for white people, breaks ground.

1965 A pivotal year in the Civil Rights Movement. The Selma to Montgomery march takes place to protest the suppression of the black vote. The passage of the Voting Rights Act follows, effectively ending literacy tests and a host of other obstacles used to disenfranchise African Americans and other minorities. Malcolm X, the fiery orator and key Civil Rights leader, is assassinated.

1976 February is declared Black History Month, having started as Negro History Week in 1926.

1983 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is established on January 21, Dr. King’s birthday.

2008 The United States of America elects its first African American president Barack Obama.

2012 The Black Lives Matter movement is formed by three African American women (Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cul-lors, and Opal Tometi) in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin. Today, BLM continues to fight police brutality against black people.

http://www.blackpast.org/aah/american-colonization-society-1816-1964; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minstrel_show; http://afroamhistory.about.com/od/timelines/fl/The-Black-Theater-Movement-1816-to-1967.htm; https://www.britannica.com/art/black-theatre; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Childress; http://blackhistorynow.com/lorraine-hansberry; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining; http://www.civilrights.org/resources/civilrights101/chronology.html; http://www.suzanloriparks.com/

1956 The Montgomery bus boycott ends in victory after the city announces it will comply with the Supreme Court ruling declaring segregation on buses illegal.

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AMERICAN DREAMSEALR ARTS 2.3, 4.1

CCSS ELA LITERACY

RL 9-10.10

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry takes its title from the poem “Montage of a Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes:

We suggest watching this video of one person’s interpretation of what has happened to dreams of civil rights that have been deferred: www.youtube.com -> Search: Porsha O -> ‘Angry Black Woman’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSoITsaSs0M

What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up

Like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--

And then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over--

like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags

like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?

– Langston Hughes

EXPRESS IT » POST ITUsing whichever art form you feel most comfortable with (photography, drawing, writing, spoken word, etc.), create a piece that portrays your interpretation of what might happen to a dream deferred. If you have social media, post it and remember to use the hashtag #seattlerep and #RaisinAtTheRep.

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STRUCTURAL RACISM, NEAR AND FAR

EALR HISTORY 4.2, 4.4

EALR SOCIAL STUDIES

5.3

Racism is an unfortunate and enduring legacy of slavery in American history. Undoubtedly, much progress has been made, but every year we are exposed to stories that serve as reminders that the wounds perpetrated by racism refuse to completely heal. Whether it’s police brutality toward or indif-ference to black men, or the sideways glance of a store owner when a black youth enters their busi-ness, racism is still an ever-present aspect of society in spite of the great progress that has been made. With the prevalence of social media, many incidents of racism are being documented and disseminat-ed on a mass scale—spurring a national dialogue about race. As we navigate this communal conversa-tion, it is important to differentiate between individual and structural racism as well as examine how social structures designed to oppress African Americans persist to present day.

According to the Aspen Institute, structural racism is defined as “a system in which public policies, in-stitutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with 'whiteness' and disadvantages associated with 'color' to endure and adapt over time.” Whereas the direct utterance of a racial epithet or the outright dismissal of a person of color is easier to identify as an indicator of individual prejudice, it is really a manifestation of a more subtle system of oppression that was designed to limit the agency of an entire race. A prime example of structural racism is the public education system. Much of the funding for public schools comes from taxes received through property valuation. Property values in predominantly black neighborhoods are usually low, thereby leav-ing predominantly black school districts with less money to buy books, hire teachers, upgrade facilities, and provide resources to students with special needs.

There is perhaps no greater example of structural racism than the Jim Crow South. Jim Crow Laws were statutes enacted during the 1880s by Southern states in response to the abolition of slavery after the Civil War. These laws legalized segrega-tion between blacks and whites. Though enacted in part under the rationale of be-ing a “protectionist” policy wherein blacks wouldn’t be subjected to the rancor of disaffected whites, the practice not only rel-egated blacks to the lower class of society by limiting their economic opportunities, but also perpetuated the notion that they were second-class citizens. Blacks were expected to adhere to a certain social etiquette that showed defer-ence to white supremacy. Legally, blacks were free, but they were denied the dignity of freedom in actuality.

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To escape the scourge of the Jim Crow South, millions of African Americans moved north in search of true economic opportunity. This massive movement is known as The Great Migration, and took place from the 1910s-1960s. Instead of being concentrated in the South, the black population spread throughout the rest of the country. As a result, blacks were not restricted to work the land or in the kitchens of plantations. They had occupations befitting a nation moving into the “modern age.”

Civil Rights changed the attitude of acceptance in the black community. Emboldened by the facts that many blacks built ships in Naval shipyards and died in service for America during World War II, the Civil Rights movement began to take hold during the 1950s. Blacks were no longer willing to be second-class citizens as they had made enduring contributions and sacrifices to the war effort.

Through A Raisin in the Sun, Lor-raine Hansberry sheds light on how structural racism impacts the black psyche and limits opportunity for upward social mobility. In the play, Walter Lee's ambition is rooted in

the Civil Rights movement. Black folks from his generation led the movement, so it's not surprising that he views himself as a man who will no longer be bound by the customs of the Jim Crow South. Young black adults like Walter were children when their parents decided to move north in search of opportunity during the Great Migration. They saw the indignity with which their parents were treated in the South. Walter Lee's desperation is understandable when you look at his life through the context that his father and mother lived in the Jim Crow South. He has resolved to no longer be a victim of social systems de-signed to oppress him, and when he realizes that his eagerness to ascend the social ladder has inhibited his business sense, he is overwhelmed by the fact that all he has left is to be subjected once again to the blight of structural racism.

Living in Seattle, we oftentimes feel far-removed from the oppressive practices of segregation in the South. In fact, we are just about as geographically far away as you can get from the South. However, it only takes a quick Google search to realize that we have to come to terms with our own dark past in regards to discrimination. Seattle has a history of racial and ethnic intolerance that dates back to its founding in the middle of the 19th century when all Native Americans were banned from the city.

Before World War II, Seattle was a predominantly Caucasian city. After the war, the population increased by about 100,000 people. Suddenly, a homogenous city had to cope with a much more diverse population. Racial exclusions were written into property deeds, and real estate agents and lenders used “redlining” to draw racial boundaries. Redlining is the practice of denying services to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic makeups of those areas. In 1964, voters rejected an “open housing” ordinance that would make communities open for anyone to live in. As a result, 90% of blacks were pushed into the Central District. After the Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education that desegregated schools, the Central District community experienced an exodus of white residents, which instilled a sense of de facto segregation in the community and made it difficult to integrate schools.

Lorraine Hansberry sheds light on how structural racism impacts the black psyche and limits opportunity for upward social mobility.

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The remnants of “redlining” and other instances of exclusivity are still felt today in many different ways, but perhaps none bigger than in income disparity. In recent years, Seattle’s booming economy can be physically seen in the countless construction projects, a growing population, and an expanding tech-nology sector. However, as the chart below attests, although the median income of the average Seattle household has risen, the median income for the average black Seattle household has gone down.

Sources:http://blogs.seattletimes.com/fyi-guy/2014/11/12/as-seattle-gets-richer-the-citys-black-households-get-poorer/http://www.seattlemag.com/article/seattles-ugly-past-segregation-our-neighborhoodshttps://assets.aspeninstitute.org/content/uploads/files/content/docs/rcc/RCC-Structural-Racism-Glossary.pdfhttp://www.npr.org/2016/04/18/474256366/why-americas-schools-have-a-money-problemhttp://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm

WATCH IT

Meme it—Post It

This video offers a simple explanation and accounting of structural racism:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4U1ozz7nM8

Create a meme that communicates your view of structural racism. If you have a social media account, post it with the hashtag #seattlerep and #RaisinAtTheRep.

$70,200

$45,700

median household income in Seattle

Declining income for blacks counters seattle's rising affluence

median household income in the u.s.

Median (all races)

black/african american$32,000

2000 20002010 20102013 2013

$25,700

$42,000

$29,400$34,800

$52,300

Clearly, there is more work to be done, and it is necessary for all citizens of conscience to work toward reversing the trend of income disparity in the city.

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Although much of A Raisin in the Sun is based on the real-life experiences of Lorraine Hansberry, the community of Clybourne Park is not an actual place. However, the racial exclusivity of Cly-bourne Park is very much consistent with segregationist practices of American suburbs during the mid-20th century. There is no better example of segregation in suburban communities than Levittown—a residential community built in Long Island, NY, and widely regarded as the archetype of the modern American suburb. Home ownership has always been an indelible aspect of the American Dream, but before World War II, this dream was only possible for the educated and those fortunate enough to be born into a wealthy family. By war’s end, America had climbed out of the Great De-pression and was seeing strong growth in its middle class. Builder Abraham Levitt recognized that with a booming economy, soldiers returning from war, and an unprecedented birth rate, there would be a huge demand for affordable housing. He was determined to capitalize on this opportunity. Together with his sons William and Alfred, Abraham designed and built an affordable housing community. The homes were simple, built close together (usually within 30 feet of one another), and could be purchased oftentimes with no money down. Suddenly, you did not have to be wealthy in order to be a home owner in America.

Not surprisingly, people jumped at the chance to own a home. However, as much as Levittown was known as a community that provided the convenience of city living with the comforts of the country, it was equally known for its exclusivity—black soldiers and workers were not permitted to live there. Between 1947 (when construction began in Levittown) and 1953, Levittown had grown to 70,000 residents—none of whom were people of color. Even the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) incentivized white homogeneity within development communities by only offering mortgages to exclusively white communities. The Levitt company required prospective home buyers to agree to a clause in their lease that stated: “The tenant agrees not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any person other than mem-bers of the Caucasian race.” Through the efforts of organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), this clause was struck down as unconstitutional

A Levittown ad that specifically targeted veterans returning home from WWII.

A TAINTED AMERICAN IDEAL

EALR HISTORY 4.2, 4.4

EALR GEOGRAPHY

3.1

Levittown was built on land that had previously been a potato field. The population density of the community is evident in this aerial shot.

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THINK ABOUT IT

RESEARCH IT

YOUTUBE IT

Do you think there is something that can be done to diversify Seattle neighborhoods? If so, mention three strategies, which can include policies, individual actions, or community initiatives.

Choose a Seattle neighborhood. Find historic events (policies, conflicts, migration, etc.) that may explain the current population of your chosen neighborhood.

Watch this old newsreel to get a glimpse into the construction process and the theory behind Levittown: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OApZePeJSdU

Sources:http://ushistoryscene.com/article/levittownhttp://www.levittowners.com

by the Supreme Court, but the Levitts contin-ued to enforce racial homogeneity in practice by rejecting all black buyers. William justified his company’s practices by stating, “the plain fact is that most whites prefer not to live in mixed communities…The responsibility is so-ciety’s. So far society has not been willing to cope with it. Until it does, it is not reasonable to expect that any builder should or could undertake to absorb the entire risk and bur-den of conducting such a vast experiment.”

Astonishingly, the Levitts did not see their role in perpetuating the cycle of discrimina-tion. There is still evidence of the Levitt fam-ily’s policy of exclusion in Levittown today. Though not completely homogenous, the community is still 89% Caucasian.

A rendering of a Levittown home. Buyers could choose between this and one other model.

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Who am I? From whom and where do I come? These are questions I asked myself throughout my childhood and young adulthood. These are questions that the characters in A Raisin in the Sun ask themselves as well. The term “identity” can be overwhelming to ponder for oneself. It’s too broad and all-encompassing. Whether we are aware of it or not, we draw conclusions about others’ identities all the time. In my more self-aware moments, I find it interesting to think how we humans can at times be quick to make a declaration on someone else’s identity based on very limited interaction, yet struggle to understand our own personal identities in a definitive way. After all, we’ve known our own selves for our entire lives. Why is something that is so fundamentally human oftentimes so elusive to grasp? To help answer this question, I’d like to offer you, the reader, an analysis of how A Raisin in the Sun addresses identity as well as a brief account of my personal search for identity. But first, a definition.

According to Merriam Webster, identity is defined as “the set of qualities and beliefs that make a particular person or group different from others.” We are all born into a world of complex cultural, po-

litical, and social structures and most people attempt to find their place within these structures through education, re-

lationships, and experience. For an African American, this journey to self-discovery hinges on the awareness of the dual identity as an African descendant and an American

citizen—a concept known as “double consciousness” and introduced during the Harlem Renaissance by African American scholar W.E.B. DuBois in his essay “The Souls of Black Folk.” He argues that blacks

lack a true sense of self because they are constantly calibrating and reconciling their dual identity as an African and as an American.

In A Raisin in the Sun, the search for identity is central to the story, and we see evidence of double consciousness working on

By Jason Sanford seattle rep education associate

EALR ARTS 4.3, 4.4

EALR HISTORY

4.4

CCSS ELA LITERACY RL 7.6, 9-10.10

"blacks lack a true sense of self because they are constantly calibrating

and reconciling their dual identity as an African and as an American."

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members of the Younger family. Mama’s spirituality affirms her African values, whereas her dream of being a home owner is consistent with American values. While Mama has found a peaceful bal-ance between her African and American identities, her children are in a state of anxiety in working toward balancing their own over the course of the play. Walter Lee disavows his African heritage by thinking that life only has meaning through the American ideal of accumu-lating wealth. He pursues his American identity by desperately striving to climb the social ladder. His double conscious-ness is revealed in his knowledge that he is a capable human being, yet the re-ality is that he will never be seen as such by white America—the key holder to his dreams. White America is represented by the character of Mr. Lindner in the play. At Walter Lee’s most vulnerable mo-

ment, Mr. Lindner offers him a generous monetary gift in exchange for not moving into the house that Mama bought in an all-white neighborhood. Just when he is about to irreversibly forsake the dignity and legacy of his African ancestors, he reclaims his African identity by refusing to accept the offer from Mr. Lindner. Beneatha, on the other hand, actively pursues the understanding of her African identity in a way that Walter Lee does not. In fact she explicitly states at one point that she is “searching for her identity.” She stops treating her hair and wears African garb to pay hom-age to and get closer to her African roots. However, she can’t deny her American identity in the end when she doesn’t agree to accompany Asagai to Africa. She understands that she can’t just wish away her American identity. It’s a part of her and moving to Africa will not change that fact.

Without a doubt, issues of identity are complex, and my personal journey in understanding my identity as an African American man is no less so. Growing up middle-class in a predominantly white suburb, my personal relationship with double consciousness is rooted in the subtle suppression of my African identity by the white community. Oftentimes, my peers would make statements to me such as “you’re not black” or “you’re black, but not REALLY black,” as if there were a way to modulate the degree to which I could claim my blackness. Oftentimes, I felt bewildered at how people could look at my brown

"Without a doubt, issues of identity are complex"

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IDENTITY METAPHORS

CREATIVE EXERCISE

Do you think that other minority communities experience double consciousness? How does the experience of double consciousness amongst African Americans differ from that experienced by other immigrant communities? Do you think women experience double consciousness?

Can you come up with a metaphor that describes the presence or lack of double consciousness in your identity? Create a five-line poem developing your metaphor that explores your own identity.

Sources:http://kristindoestheory.umwblogs.org/understanding-w-e-b-du-bois-concept-of-double-consciousness/http://www.journals.aiac.org.au/index.php/IJALEL/article/view/1325/1313http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/identity

skin and continually deny the reality of my ethnicity because my mannerisms and speech were not consistent with their generalized view of what it meant to be “black.”

The anxiety I felt as a result of internalizing the misguided claims of my white peers led to an unyielding sense of insecurity. If I wasn’t “black” to them (I said to myself ), then what do I need to do to “prove” that I am? And if I do prove that I am indeed a black man, will I still be accepted in the white world that has allowed me entry? Suffice to say that my youth was a very confusing time and it wasn’t until read-ing DuBois’ explanation of double consciousness that I began to truly unravel the cause of my angst and to relieve myself of the burden of self-doubt.

Although society as a whole has moved toward being more inclusive, double consciousness is still present in the collective psyche of African Americans and other minority groups. You need look no further than the portrayals of black men as criminals, rappers, and athletes depicted by the majority of media outlets. These stereotypes are toxic to society and lead to grotesque generalizations of hu-man potential. The result is that white America often only conceives of black men through the limited terms established by white media, and many black men often only see themselves through these same terms. The trend of stereotyping black youth is a perpetual problem rooted in the denial of black culture and tradition. It’s important for people to be aware of their own bias and the power that the media has in shaping how society views blacks and all other minority communities.

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iN SPITE OF IT ALLEALR

SOCIAL STUDIES

5.2

EALR HISTORY

4.4

While the African American community has been historically marginalized, their contributions to different fields and achievements are undeniable. The list below is meant to serve as a balance to the notion of African Americans as an exclusively marginalized group of people. It also serves as a counterpart to the portrayals we receive every day of the members of this community through the media.

If we were to list every single achievement of every single prominent African American person in this guide, the list would be endless. Therefore, the list below is meant to provide some recognizable names, as well as a few names that are probably not as familiar to you. We have purposely left out the contributions of certain people already mentioned in this guide (Langston Hughes, Lorraine Hansberry), those of people most taught in schools (Harriet Tubman, Malcom X, Martin Luther King, Jr, Maya Angelou) and those you may already know due to popular culture (Muhammed Ali, Prince, Tina Turner, Louis Armstrong, and Barack Obama). If there are any names here you don’t recognize, Google them! There's so much out there to be found.

Madame C.J. Walker

First Woman Millionaire1867-1919

Founded the Madame C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company to sell hair care

products and cosmetics. These products are still available today. Find out more at

www.mcjwbeautyculture.com.

Thurgood Marshall

Jurist1908-1993

First African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Jean Baptiste Point du Sable

Point du Sable built his first house in the 1770s, 30 years before Fort Dearborn was es-tablished on the banks of the Chicago River.

First Resident of Chicago1745-1813

Bessie Coleman

Pilot1892-1926

First black licensed pilot in the world.

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read about it » write about it

Find out about the life of a prominent African American who is unfamiliar to you. Write a para-graph that outlines his or her work and contributions to America. Use this URL as a resource: http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h3736.html

benjamin O. Davis Sr.

General1877-1970

First African American general in the U.S. Army. His son, Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was the first African American general in the

United States Air Force.

Edward Brooke III

Politician1919-2015

First African American elected to the U.S. Senate.

Aretha Franklin

Gospel, Soul, R&B Singer1942-

"Queen of Soul;" first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll

Hall of Fame.

Condoleezza Rice

University Professor, Politician1954-

U.S. Secretary of State from January 2005-January 2009.

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