Hagar in the Bible

Hagar was an Egyptian maid of Abraham's wife Sarah. Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham for fertility purposes because she was infertile, saying "The Lord has kept me from having children. Go sleep with my maid-servant; perhaps I can build a family through her" (Genesis 16:2). Abraham and Hagar then had a son named Ishmael. Some time later God blessed Sarah and Abraham with a son named Isaac. Sarah ordered Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away by telling him "Get rid of that slave woman and her son, for that slave woman's son will never share the inheritance with my son Isaac" (Genesis 21:10). Abraham consulted God and God said that it was the right thing to do and not to worry because he "[would] make the son of the maidservant into a nation also, because he is your offspring" (Genesis 21:13). So Abraham sent Hagar and Ismael away and as they were traveling they got lost in the desert. Hagar left Ishmael under a tree while she went to find water. She was blessed by God who showed unto her a well. Hagar and Ishmael lived in the Desert of Paran where Ishmael became and archer and acquired a wife from Egypt.
The African American community uses this story to pertain to their life and their displacement. It also refers to a model of a single mother and her child trying to make a life although the struggles are great. This story is used by African Americans for the idea that anything can be done with only God on your side and it also creates the sense of true struggle that was and has been experienced by the African American community.