Audre Lorde was not only a famous poet; she was also
one of the most important radical black feminists of the
past century. Her writings and speeches grappled with an
impressive broad list of topics, including sexuality,
race, gender, class, disease, the arts, parenting, and
resistance, and they have served as a transformative and
important foundation for theorists and activists in
considering questions of power and social justice. Lorde
embraced difference, and at each turn she emphasized the
importance of using it to build shared strength among
marginalized communities. I Am Your Sister is a
collection of Lorde's non-fiction prose, written between
1976 and 1990, and it introduces new perspectives on the
depth and range of Lorde's intellectual interests and
her commitments to progressive social change. Presented
here, for the first time in print, is a major body of
Lorde's speeches and essays, along with the complete
text of A Burst of Light and Lorde's landmark prose
works Sister Outsider and The Cancer Journals.Together,
these writings reveal Lorde's commitment to a radical
course of thought and action, situating her works within
the women's, gay and lesbian, and African American Civil
Rights movements. They also place her within a continuum
of black feminists, from Sojourner Truth, to Anna Julia
Cooper, Amy Jacques Garvey, Lorraine Hansberry, and
Patricia Hill Collins. I Am Your Sister concludes with
personal reflections from Alice Walker, Gloria Joseph,
Johnnetta Betsch Cole, Beverly Guy-Sheftall, and bell
hooks on Lorde's political and social commitments and
the indelibility of her writings for all who are
committed to a more equitable society. |
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