Hey you,

We are back today, with another global icon!

We will call her “Audre Lorde”, for the moment.

 

Photo credit: The Guardian

 

First,

I hope she is really resting so well, having transitioned from life on earth in 1992 (the year I was born)!

I really missed catching her alive but hey, we have the World War to thank for the invention of the internet, eh?!

We can always refer to her works digitally and make some hard copies of it all.

 

Photo credit: National Museum of African American History and Culture

 

Audre was a poet, writer, professor, activist, lesbian as well as a philosopher.

Her ways with words saw her tackle a lot of “isms” like racism, sexism, classism, civil rights, disability, exploration of the black female identity as well as homophobia.

It is even whispered in some corners that she wrote her first poem at the age of 8!

 

Photo credit: NBC News

 

According to Wikipedia,

Born as Audrey Geraldine Lorde,

That girl chose to drop the “y” from her first name while still a child, explaining in Zami: A New Spelling of My Name that she was more interested in the artistic symmetry of the “e”-endings in the two side-by-side names “Audre Lorde” than in spelling her name the way her parents had intended.!

 

Photo credit: Etsy

 

If you really want to understand who Audre was,

I suggest you get to her poetry.

Everything you need to know is all there!

 

Audre Winterfeld market

 

Another place to look for understanding of Audre Lorde is her collection of essays and speeches.

There is one I really enjoy getting back to, from time to time.

It’s called, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House”.

 

Photo credit: Project Myopia

 

Along the way, you will even come across films and documentaries that speak of her and the life she lived.

I strongly recommend you eat those up, too.

 

Photo credit: IMDb

 

Well, you got your homework cut out.

Let us get to it!