In “Scratching the Surface: Some Notes on Barriers to Woman and Loving,” she discusses these as “forms of human blindness” and “an inability to recognize the notion of difference as a dynamic human force, one which is enriching rather than threatening to the defined self, when there are shared goals” ( Sister Outsider, 45). Lorde’s theoretical work also provides important definitions of racism, sexism, homophobia, heterosexism, classism, and other forms of oppression.
Lorde’s essays and speeches (from the late 1970s into the early 1980s published in Sister Outsider) remain seminal in terms of defining feminism and intersectionality, while also affirming Black female diasporic subjectivity. Her writing exemplifies the complexity of feminist praxis and continues to be relevant and incredibly useful for feminist praxis and pedagogy. I discovered the depths of Audre Lorde’s work in college and since then she has been pivotal in my writing, teaching, and community work. And so I am here in the light and dark of her magic and fury, as Black queer woman writer-artist-teacher-scholar-activist-poet - daring to imagine a world where people of color can be human and free dreaming revolution as sexual and spiritual freedom, gender and economic equality, and radical social change. Audre Lorde has been my spirit/poet/intellectual guide and through studying her work, I have carved a place for myself in spaces never meant for me: “so it is better to speak / knowing we were never meant to survive” (“Litany for Survival,” The Black Unicorn). Yes, my voice matters, my survival matters, and I have a right to define and redefine myself. Her collection The Black Unicorn remains my torch and inspiration to be and become more.
The words in this poem have been my guiding force for many years as Audre Lorde’s poetry helped me to make sense of my life in profound ways. ~ Audre Lorde “A Woman Speaks,” The Black Unicorn
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