Lorraine Hansberry

de bene esse: literally, of well-being, morally acceptable but subject to future validation or exception

Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright behind the enduring play, "A Raisin in the Sun," in January 1959. The Chicago-born writer died of cancer at the age of 34 in 1965. Her good friend James Baldwin wrote after her death, "When so bright a light goes out so early, when so gifted an artist goes so soon, we are left with a sorrow and wonder which speculation cannot assuage. One is filled for a long time with a sense of injustice as futile as it is powerful." Photo: Associated Press.