Photos: Lorraine Hansberry Statue Unveiled in Duffy Square

A statue of Lorraine Hansberry, created by sculptor, Alison Saar, was unveiled in Duffy Square in a ceremony featuring a performance from Tony Award-winner LaChanze, remarks from Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, Lorraine's sister Mamie Hansberry, and the President of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund Janai Nelson.

The ceremony also included a special photo moment honoring several of the BIPOC, female, and LGBTQ+ writers, composers, and lyricists whose work is gracing Broadway stages this historic season, including Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Lackawanna Blues), Jeanine Tesori (Caroline, or Change and Kimberly Akimbo), Masi Asare (Paradise Square), Lucy Moss (Six), Christina Anderson (Paradise Square), and more.

The Lorraine Hansberry Initiative aims to raise public awareness of the full breadth of Hansberry's work and teachings, which are of the utmost importance at this crucial time in history. In addition to the statue of Lorraine that will tour the country in 2022-23, the Initiative includes a scholarship fund to help support female and non-binary dramatic writers of color currently attending graduate school by covering their living expenses, and aiming to give them the financial freedom to follow in Lorraine's footsteps by pursuing their craft.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski