Audre Lorde (1934–1992) was an American writer, poet, feminist, civil rights activist, and librarian. As a Black lesbian, she dedicated her life and writing to addressing systemic racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, and heterosexism.
CLEAR ALL
June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
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In this charged collection of fifteen essays and speeches, Lorde takes on sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and class, and propounds social difference as a vehicle for action and change. Her prose is incisive, unflinching, and lyrical, reflecting struggle but ultimately offering messages of hope.
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Audre Lorde telling friends in 1992 about an experience she had at the Berlin airport.
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.
Self-described “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” Audre Lorde is an unforgettable voice in twentieth-century literature, and one of the first to center the experiences of black, queer women.
The black lesbian feminist writer and poet, who died 25 years ago, is better known than ever, her words often quoted in books and on social media.
Written with a “black woman’s anger” and the precision of a poet, these searing pieces by the groundbreaking writer Audre Lorde are a celebration of female strength and solidarity, and a cry to speak out against those who seek to silence anyone they see as ‘other.’
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Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into an idea, then into more tangible action.
To understand how the term “self-care” has evolved, I dug into the history of the phrase. The term has origins in medical research, but its leap from academia to public awareness can be traced back to the Black Panther Party and Black feminist writers.
Audre Lorde came to Berlin as a guest professor at the John-F.-Kennedy Institute at the Free University of Berlin in 1984. That year she gave a reading at the annual conference of the German Association of North-American Studies which took place at the Amerika House.
Photo Credit: Jack Mitchell / Contributor / Archive Photos / Getty Images
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.
