A Raisin in the Sun (by Lorraine Hansberry)

Read for the RHC category "a classic written by a POC."  I've read so many of the greats, especially by Black American authors: Beloved, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Invisible Man, Their Eyes Were Watching God, etc. But I'd never read A Raisin in the Sun.  (Title from a poem by another of the greats, Langston Hughes.) 

I wasn't familiar with Lorraine Hansberry either, or even that this classic play was written by a young (she was 29 when she wrote it) woman.  It's marvelous, of course, and still so relevant.  It's about a family living in Chicago who comes into some money and considers using it to better their lives. Of course, this isn't without complications.  (Next paragraph will have some spoilers.)

The introduction in the edition I read talked about how easy it is to misread the play, looking at this family as a universal American family and the ending as "oh yay, they move into their new house!"  In fact, race is crucial to understanding these characters, and the ending has echoes in Hansberry's life: her house was firebombed by a white mob and her family had to leave Chicago.

I'm so glad I decided to read this play; it's wonderful.