Audre Lorde
American poet Audre Lorde (February 18, 1934 – November 17, 1992) dedicated both her life and creative talent to confronting and addressing injustices of racism, sexism, classism and homophobia.
In 1968, Lorde published The First Cities, her first volume of poems. Her second volume, Cables to Rage (1970) addressed themes of love, betrayal, childbirth, and the complexities of raising children. Nominated for the National Book Award for poetry in 1974, From a Land Where Other People Live (Broadside Press) deals with themes of anger, loneliness, and injustice, as well as what it means to be a black woman, mother, friend, and lover.
Lorde was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1978 and underwent a mastectomy. Six years later, she found out her breast cancer had metastasized in her liver. The Cancer Journals (1980) and A Burst of Light (1988) both use non-fiction prose, including essays and journal entries, to bear witness to, explore, and reflect on Lorde's diagnosis, treatment, recovery from breast cancer, and ultimately fatal recurrence with liver metastases.
Lorde died of breast cancer at the age of 58 on November 17, 1992, in St. Croix. In an African naming ceremony before her death, she took the name Gamba Adisa, which means "Warrior: She Who Makes Her Meaning Known".
A Woman Speaks
Moon marked and touched by sun
my magic is unwritten
but when the sea turns back
it will leave my shape behind.
I seek no favor
untouched by blood
unrelenting as the curse of love
permanent as my errors
or my pride
I do not mix
love with pity
nor hate with scorn
and if you would know me
look into the entrails of Uranus
where the restless oceans pound.
I do not dwell
within my birth nor my divinities
who am ageless and half-grown
and still seeking
my sisters
witches in Dahomey
wear me inside their coiled cloths
as our mother did
mourning.
I have been woman
for a long time
beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic
and the noon's new fury
with all your wide futures
promised
I am
woman
and not white.
--Audre Lorde