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Mar 16 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
Extraordinary to watch the mind of the American humanist playwright Lorraine Hansberry at work here in 1960. A true talent and inspiration, Hansberry was the first black woman to have a play produced on Broadway – wonderful to see her passion shine through. #HumanistHeritage
Her most famous play, A Raisin in the Sun (which debuted in 1959), is a fearless commentary on racial discrimination, segregation, and the 'American dream'. It's a fantastic piece of drama, which you can watch in full on YouTube.

Hansberry was good friends with musician Nina Simone, and after Lorraine's death in 1965, Simone went on to write the song 'To Be Young, Gifted and Black' in her memory, subsequently becoming an anthem of the Civil Rights movement. #IWM2023

In case you missed it, on #IWD2023 our @HumanismEdu free school resources site published a new resource exploring the humanist lives of novelist George Eliot, playwright Lorraine Hansberry, scientist Rosalind Franklin, and explorer Florence Dixie. humanists.uk/2023/03/08/new…
@HumanismEdu Full documentary and interview with Hansberry here:

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More from @Humanists_UK

Humanists UK Profile picture
Mar 17
'Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present'. Some good, ancient, and stoic advice – from the Philosopher Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. He died #OnThisDay 180 CE. 🧵 Image
In a book he wrote to himself, known now as 'Meditations', the Roman Emperor wrote that happiness, moral virtue, love, & inner-strength are readily available to all of humanity, & that we need not look outside of ourselves to live a good, moral life.
People who share humanist values are likely to find great value in Stoic philosophy. It's highly practical & focuses on the human need to live ethically. It also focuses on how we can't control all aspects of life, but only our reaction to what happens within our own.
Read 5 tweets
Humanists UK Profile picture
Mar 16
Heart-breaking. Robbed of the human right to education, dignity, and a future – young women are given no alternative but to recite scripture under brutal Taliban rule. But these establishments are not unique to Afghanistan...

france24.com/en/live-news/2…
While the idea of young people being robbed of a future by religious clerics may seem far away on the other side of the world... this is simply not the case. 6,000 children are currently stuck in illegal schools in England, many of which are religious.
Scripture from dawn till dusk. Unsafe, tumbling down buildings. Widespread abuse. This is the experience of the thousands of children trapped in illegal religious schools... and the UK Government has seemingly abandoned its plans to shut them down.

humanists.uk/2022/12/14/ofs…
Read 4 tweets
Humanists UK Profile picture
Mar 15
A wonderful moment caught in a #HumanistHeritage photo! Architect of modern humanism and our first Executive Director, Harold Blackham, appearing to crack wise at his retirement party: (pictured, right, @ConwayHall in 1968). Best of Blackham. 🧵👇
'Nothing is exempt from human question...no immemorial tradition, no revelation, no authority, no privileged knowledge.' – Harold Blackham, the architect of modern humanism & our first Executive Director, on the importance of questioning everything and everyone.
'Humanism is the ordinary way of taking hold of the world...Contrary to what many suspect or complain of, humanism not only has no mumbo-jumbo, it has no experts. Intellectuals and the man in the street speak the same language.'
Read 8 tweets
Humanists UK Profile picture
Sep 7, 2022
The UK Government has shelved the #RightsRemovalBill and we hope it does not return. The Bill seeks to alter the #HumanRightsAct in such a way that ordinary people would lose the power to challenge discrimination perpetrated by the state. humanists.uk/2022/09/07/gov…
The #HumanRightsAct gives everyone the power to take legal action against the police (demonstrated by the victims of the rapist John Worboys). The #RightsRemovalBill diminishes this power, & with it, the ability to effectively hold the police to account. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
The HRA also allows for 'religion' to be interpreted as 'religion or belief.' The non-religious (52% of UK population) can & do challenge discrimination on this basis. The #RightsRemovalBill strips this power of interpretation away, and with it our rights. bihr.org.uk/blog/why-our-h…
Read 4 tweets
Humanists UK Profile picture
Sep 7, 2022
We're really excited for our #HolyoakeLecture with author, broadcaster, @ObserverUK columnist, & our patron – @kenanmalik. Join us in Manchester 16 Nov at the @FriendsMtgHouse. Limited early bird tickets left. Book yours today. 🎫

humanists.uk/events/holyoak…
Very different questions have all emerged from today’s heated debates around race, identity and culture. The ‘culture wars’ have generated ferocious argument, but little clarity... #HolyoakeLecture
In this lecture, based on the themes of his upcoming book 'Not So Black and White' @kenanmalik seeks that clarity by taking the long view, explaining the real origins of ‘race’ in Western thought, and tracing its path from those beginnings to today’s fractious world.
Read 4 tweets
Humanists UK Profile picture
Sep 5, 2022
The #HumanRightsAct gives everyone the power to take legal action against the police (demonstrated by the victims of the rapist John Worboys). The #RightsRemovalBill diminishes this power, & with it, the ability to effectively hold the police to account.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Justice secretary Dominic Raab said: 'It is important that the police (and public authorities generally) are able to exercise their professional judgment in operational decision-making and the allocation of resources.'
'Licensing or promoting litigation against the police and other public services is not an effective means of ensuring accountability, but instead skews public attention, priorities and resources – decisions which should be taken by elected governments and MPs, not the courts.'
Read 4 tweets

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