Thoughts on The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative

Sep 21

Reflections on The Permanent Installation of “To Sit A While” @ Navy Pier Chicago

Last Month I had a front row seat at Chicago’s celebration of the literary and theater titan, Lorraine Hansberry.

Over the last several years, The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative has presented programming across the country, touring a new sculpture honoring Hansberry – TO SIT A WHILE - created by Alison Saar. The sculpture is now a permanent fixture at Navy Pier.

· I attended and participated as a member of the Dramatists Guild.

· I got to meet the leadership of The Lillys.

· And I got my first direct conversation with living legend, Lynn Nottage, who emcee’d several events.

The Lilly's Team with artist, Alison Saar.

The program gave me a lot to think about. But I keep coming back to the way Saar approached Lorraine Hansberry’s creative legacy as an artist herself:

Five different chairs.

Each chair represents the different ways Lorraine Hansberry walked in the world: playwright, journalist, feminist, civil rights activist, human. And the sculpture is an invitation for people – like you or me – to come, sit and reflect.

The sculpture makes me think about the fullness of any singular human experience. How we are really quite multi-faceted.

This is a marvelous thing. And we don’t celebrate it enough! There’s something discomforting about the ways we tend to talk about artistry, excellence and acclaim — something that reinforces the myth that if an artist is doing work outside their creative passion, they haven’t “made it” or maybe aren’t even that good.

This myth is harmful and pervasive. I’ve suffered from it (and perpetuated it). It's particularly harmful for anyone working in a creative ecosystem that doesn’t prioritize their livelihood (which is most of them, in my opinion).

However, it’s also true that the wild, early success Lorraine earned is something to strive for. Beating the odds and making the most of an expanded profile and platform – this is absolutely a path to pursue. But it shouldn’t be collapsed into some oversimplification of someone’s work in the world. FIVE CHAIRS. Not one.

And we shouldn’t beat ourselves up if the stars don’t align on our timetable.

I’m so grateful that I get to be part of an American culture that has grown from Lorraine Hansberry’s interventions and contributions. But how many more versions of Lorraine Hansberry would we know if she lived into her forties, fifties or sixties?

So this is giving me a lot to think about – for my own creative practice, and especially the ways I engage with culture-making across the generations – ancestors, elders, the current movers and shakers, and the ones coming up.

And that’s’ that!