"Salon: Nina Simone and Lorraine Hansberry" Art Talk
CUNY Graduate Center
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Lorraine Hansberry (1930–1965) worked with Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois writing political speeches, letters, and essays before her best-known work, "A Raisin in the Sun," became a Broadway hit in 1959. She was active in the women’s movement and supported and inspired many other artists, including Nina Simone, who borrowed Hanberry’s title, “Young Gifted and Black” for a song that would become a hit single in 1969 (four years after Hansberry’s early death). Nina Simone (1933–2003) was a musician whose thwarted aspirations to become a classical pianist led her to forge one of the most original and influential jazz styles of her day. She was a major influence and inspiration in the American civil rights movement. This salon will focus on these two exceptional African American female artists in the context of the black avant-garde as it took formation from WWII forward.
Salon led by Shelly Eversley, English, Baruch College, CUNY.
Media
Schedule
March 30, 2011 from 13:00 to 15:00