 Audre
Lorde [1934 - 1992] was a self described
"Black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet".
The
daughter of Caribbean immigrants who settled in Harlem, Lorde graduated
from Columbia University and Hunter College, where she later held the
esteemed position, Thomas Hunter Chair of Literature.
Poet
Lorde collected a host of awards and
honors, including designating her New York State's Poet Laureate.
Her first poem was published in Seventeen magazine while she was
still in high school. The administration of the high school felt that
her work was too romantic for publication in their literary journal.
Lorde went on to publish over a dozen books on poetry, and six books of
prose.
Teacher - Activist
Lorde worked as a librarian while
refining her talents as a writer. In 1968, she accepted a teaching
position at Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi where the violence
that greeted the civil rights movement was close at hand every night.
This period cemented the bond between her artistic talents and her
dedication to the struggle against injustice.
Lorde went on to provide avenues of expression to future generations
of writers by co-founding the Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press.
She was at the center of the movement to preserve and celebrate African
American culture at a time when the destruction of these institutions
was on the rise.
Her dedication reached around the world when she formed the
Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa. She was one of the
featured speakers at the first national march for gay and lesbian
liberation in DC in 1979. In 1989, she helped organize disaster relief
efforts for St. Croix in the wake of Hurricane Hugo.
Warrior
Late in life, Audre Lorde was
given the African name Gamba Adisa, meaning "Warrior: She Who Makes Her
Meaning Clear". It is a name that applies to her whole life. Her
struggle against oppression on many fronts was expressed with a force
and clarity that made her a respected voice for women, African
Americans, and the Gay and Lesbian community.
Lorde's son Jonathan Rollins recalled the warrior spirit that his
mother possessed by stating that not fighting was not an option -- "We
could lose. But we couldn't not fight."
The Quotable Lorde
"When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my
vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid".
"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most
important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk
of having it bruised or misunderstood."
"The quality of light by which we scrutinize our lives has direct
bearing upon the product which we live, and upon the changes which we
hope to bring about through those lives." ( Poetry Is Not A Luxury)
The Survivor
Lorde bravely documented her 14-year
battle against the cancer in "The Cancer Journals" and in her book of
essays "A Burst of Light". In the latter she wrote: ''The struggle with
cancer now informs all my days, but it is only another face of that
continuing battle for self-determination and survival that black women
fight daily, often in triumph.''
She struggled against disease and a
medical establishment that was frequently indifferent to cultural
differences and insensitive to women's health issues. She stood in
defiance to societal rules that said that she should hide the fact that
she had breast cancer.
Audre Lorde died in St Croix, Virgin Islands, on November 17, 1992.
Her spirit fights on.
Learn more about Audre Lorde
- Read her novel/memoir "Zami: A New Spelling of
My Name", Crossings Press, Trumansburg, NY, 1982.
- See the film "A Litany for Survival: The Life and Work
of Audre Lorde" by Ada Griffith and Michelle Parkerson, 1994.
- Read the award winning book "A Burst of Light",
Firebrand Books, Ithaca, NY.
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