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In celebration of Black
History Month and the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Studio
Arena Theatre and Housing Opportunities Made Equal recently collaborated
on a series of events to coincide with Studio Arena’s production of the
play A Raisin In the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
Kicking off the series
was Housing Opportunities Made Equal’s Fair Housing Workshop, held January
12, 2004 in the Theatre’s Studio Left Lounge.
The
evening began with a stirring presentation by HOME’s Community Education
Specialist Anne Huiner which gave an overview of fair housing history from
1939 to the present.
The year
1939 was chosen because that was the year Lorraine Hansberry’s father went
all the way to the Supreme Court to challenge the restrictive covenants
which governed nearly 80% of Chicago’s neighborhoods.
Ms. Huiner began her talk by reading from a letter sent by
Ms. Hansberry, to the New York Times in April of 1964. The excerpt
from the letter painfully illustrates the fight for civil rights and the
author’s own family’s struggle.
“The fact
that my father and the NAACP ‘won’ a Supreme Court
decision…is--ironically--the sort of ‘progress’ our satisfied friends
allude to when they presume to deride the more radical means of struggle.
The cost, in emotional turmoil, time and money, which led to my father’s
early death as a permanently embittered exile in a foreign country when he
saw that after such sacrificial efforts the Negroes of Chicago were as
ghetto-locked as ever, does not seem to figure in their calculations.”
As the
above quote indicates, Ms. Hansberry’s personal history gave her insight
into the pain caused when people are denied their right to fair housing.
This quote made it clear that the marriage between this ground breaking
play and the on-going struggle for equality in housing a natural one.
During the
workshop, the crowd learned that although the Hansberrys won their case,
restrictive covenants were not found to be unconstitutional until another
case, originating in Detroit was decided. That case was McGhee v. Sipes,
and Mr. McGhee’s case was handled by a young African-American lawyer named
Thurgood Marshall. (Ironically enough, the niece of plaintiff Orsel McGhee
is an active member of HOME).
In spite
of these two victories, by 1959, the year Raisin in the Sun
was first produced on Broadway, the only law which protected the freedom
of housing choice was the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and that law was
rarely enforced. It was not until 1968 when, in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., Congress passed the Fair Housing Act.
Sadly, it
came 10 years after the play was published and three years after the death
of Lorraine Hansberry.
A
performance by the HOME players followed the talk demonstrating the impact
of housing discrimination today. The scenario, entitled “Already been”
featured actors Kimberly Campbell, Pam Snyder and Daire Brian Irwin.
The
history of fair housing was reinforced visually with a display showing
highlights of history of HOME and the struggle for Fair Housing in Western
New York. The display, which remained up in the State Left Lounge for the
entire run of the production, illustrated that while we still have a long
way to go to achieve fair housing for all, we have come a long way. Ms.
Huiner’s talk encouraged the audience to remember that they too can and
should be a part of civil rights history.
In
addition to the series of workshops, the education departments of Studio
Arena and HOME collaborated on a study guide for young audiences learning
about the play. The guides gave information about the life of Ms.
Hansberry and background about the play. HOME contributed an introduction
to fair housing and discussion questions around the issues of civil
rights and fair housing as they related to the play.
A special
thank you goes to Studio Arena Theatre’s Manager of Educational Outreach
Peter Maier and Director of Marketing Bil Schroder, whose tireless efforts
made this collaboration possible. |
