Audre Lorde

Even Today There is this expectation that we have to educate the people that oppress us. Whether if we’re educating these oppressors on race, gender, or even class; it is a major issue that needs to change. Audre Lorde explores these ideas in the Sister outsider chapter “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” Lorde discusses the idea of oppression through some of her personal experiences in order to show how people can attempt to make a change.

Lorde explains the impact that oppression has on several communities of people, and how it can affect them negatively. Lorde states “Black and Third World people are expected to educate white people as to our humanity. Women are expected to educate men. Lesbians and gay men are expected to educate the heterosexual world” (p.115). A major question that could be asked is why are the people being oppressed expected to go out of their way to drain themselves in order to make everyone around them understand them? Why do they have to go through that effort?  It isn’t realistic to just expect these oppressors to understand their mistakes automatically. The oppressed people might have to give their oppressors a little insight on why they are wrong, but it shouldn’t be entirely their responsibility. There is also the possibility that someone who is known as an oppressor might not want to change their ways, learn, or open their mind up to differences. Even though that might be hard to hear, we have to accept that we can’t always change oppressors minds.

There are also several other methods that could be considered when thinking about helping educate others. Today people don’t always have to take on the role of being an educator on others oppressive mistakes. In the digital age we live in today there are several different resources at our fingertips, and the concept of oppression is also discussed a lot more than it was in the past. Oppressed people can help educate others by finding valuable sources such as YouTube videos, podcasts, blog posts online, documentaries, or even books. These different sources are valuable to point someone in the right direction, but won’t have all the answers. The oppressors might still be confused or have questions after visiting these various sources. It is important to be open to answering their questions even if it is frustrating knowing some of these topics might seem like common knowledge to you. It is important because if their questions go unanswered, they might go in the opposite direction, and ignore what they have learned.

Ultimately there are three ways to handle the differences that we have. Lorde states “we have all been programmed to respond to human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate”(115). These different ideas of how to deal with differences aren’t effective. Realistically we can’t just ignore these different ideas just because we don’t understand them. The only one to understand, and to conquer these issues is to face them head-on. We have to accept that as people that we are different, that we might not see eye to eye on all our differences, but we will make an effort to try to understand, and accept all people. Lorde says “Too often we pour the energy needed for recognizing and exploring difference into pretending those differences are insurmountable barriers, or that they do not exist at all. This results in a voluntary isolation, or false and treacherous connections” (115). It is ignorant to think that we are all the same, or that there are no differences in the world. The truth is there is plenty of differences around us, and we have to accept that. We don’t have to accept it all at once, but we should take time to digest these differences, and realize that we can do better. We can do better by equally putting in the effort to learn, and teach others how to not oppress the diverse people around us. If we all work together a lot more can be achieved in the end.

Discussion Questions

1. Lorde discusses how she had to educate her teachers who dismissed her children’s culture at school. Has there ever been a time in your life where you had to educate someone on a difference, or have you ever witnessed someone educating someone on a difference that they had?
2.  Do you think social media has made it easier for people who aren’t going through the differences that were discussed in this chapter to ultimately educate themselves, and or accept others? Or what kind of impact do you think social media makes on the oppression of what society sees as different people?

Lorde, Audre. Sister Outsider : Essays and Speeches. Trumansburg, NY :Crossing Press, 1984.

Please use Barbara Smith’s essay, “Towards a Black Feminist Criticism” to answer one of the following questions. If you would like to address more than one question, you are, of course, always welcome, though it is not required.

• According to Smith, why is Black feminist criticism necessary? In other words, why did she write this? 
• What are some principles of Black feminist criticism? 
• What do you make of Smith’s reading of Sula as a lesbian novel?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts. Don’t forget we have another round of blog posts and comments for Monday!

Hey guys! My name is Gabriela Evola, but you can just call me Gabby! I was born and raised on Long Island and live with my younger brother, my mother, who is an immigrant from Dominican Republic, and my father, who was raised in Queens Village by his Italian immigrant parents. I also have a small fluffy 4 year old dog named Bailey, who is a Cavatese (A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and Maltese mix). I am currently a senior at SUNY Cortland, who is majoring in English and minoring in professional writing. After I graduate from SUNY Cortland, I plan on applying to master programs for teaching. Becoming a teacher has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. I’m so happy to have had the opportunity to take another one of Professor Savonick’s courses and cannot wait to get to know all of you as the semester continues! 🙂

Hello Everyone, My names is Roshawna. I’m a senior here at SUNY Cortland. My major is Early childhood/childhood education. I was born in Jamaica (the island so you might hear my accent) but now I lived in Queens NY. I love to cook and travel to different places around the world.

Audre Lorde is an extremely progressive poet for her time. Her poem “Love Poem” really reflects her own personal beliefs and culture unapologetically. This particular poem discusses a speaker’s (presumably Lorde herself) lesbian encounter with another woman in an extremely poetic and a not so subliminal way. She does so, through the usage of nature and symbolizing that to a woman’s body in addition to descriptive language.

Firstly, it is important to point out how her initial line begins with a command, “Speak earth and bless me with what is richest” (line 1). This command is very important because it gives characterization of the speaker. By commanding the earth to speak and bless her, she is fully confident in who she is and what type of power she possesses. From here, the poem continues with extremely descriptive landscapes symbols to reflect the speaker’s body. The poem reads, “rigid as mountains // spread over a valley // carved out by the mouth of rain” (3-5). The use of the terms “mountains”, and “valley” can quite literally be synonymous with the female anatomy of breasts and genitalia which is exactly what the poet intended. These lines are purposeful, for they are easing the reader into the not so subtle next stanza.

The poem then continues in stanza two using such extremely graphic language that is apparent to connecting the words, to her sexual encounter with another female. The first line of stanza two, “And I knew when I entered her…” strictly discusses penetration. This is very forward for any poet at this time, especially being that it describes lesbian culture in a time where that was shamed and frowned upon. The speaker continues on to use more naturalistic terms to symbolize the woman’s body. She uses terms such as, “forests hollow” and “honey flowed” (7,9). The forests reflects the female genitalia; this is the second time in this poem that a vagina is symbolized. “Honey flowed” reflects vaginal discharge during sexual interactions. The use of natural landscapes is beautifully done by Lorde, for this sets up her argument that being a lesbian is innate. This was absolutely uncommon during these times and she is strong enough to use her voice to refute that through her poetry.

From this point in the poem and onward, the speaker feels she has eased her way into this  content that she wants to discuss, so she writes this in a very blunt way. This makes this poem reflect an erotica poem. She uses phrases such as, “impaled on a lance of tongues // on the tips of her breast on her navel // and my breath // howling into her entrances” (11-14). There are no symbols in this section of the poem, it is strictly a description. 

These symbols being present through the introduction of the poem and then lacking anything other than straight up description towards the end, was extremely strategic of Lorde. She, as people know, was utterly progressive and craves society to feel comfortable in a discussion such as lesbian culture. She was smart though because if someone of her time began reading the poem and read extremely graphic and erotic phrases in the beginning, they would turn a blind eye to it and disgustfully tarnish her work. Lorde does not see these topics as controversial, yet is aware the society she’s surrounded by would be against something of the sort. 

It is also important to note that this poem has two publishing dates; one in 1973 and another in 1975. This could mean that the poem was rejected initially by publishers for its crude content. Lorde could have accepted defeat and not attempt to publish it again, but instead she tried again to publish it two years later. This shows Lorde’s character. She feels that advocacy and voicing an opinion no matter how unpopular it is, is important for a society to grow and flourish.

1. How different do you think the reactions of this poem would be if it were published in 2020?
2. What other word choices/symbols in this poem do you feel have strong relevance on the topic of LGBTQ+ literature?

Imagine living in a time where there are social rights movements happening all around you, and even with those movements, you were still being oppressed and not thoroughly represented or stood up for. Throughout the sixties, seventies, and early eighties, this was the reality for Black women. The Black Liberation Movement left these women continuing to feel sexually oppressed, while the Women’s Movement left them still feeling racially oppressed. The problem was in the fact that these identities, “black” and “woman” did/do not exist separately, but rather simultaneously (intersectionality) but the problems that these two identities faced simultaneously were not being addressed. Due to their needs and over all existence being ignored, the Black Feminist Movement began, and had the goal to develop the theory that would end sexist, racist and classist discrimination. Intersectionality is a theme that is heavily used in Audre Lorde’s works, in regard to her race, gender, class, sexuality, religion, etc. 

            Audre Lorde considers herself to be multiple different identities at once, “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet”, which we read in our first reading from the Poetry Foundation, titled Audre Lorde. One of our readings for this week is Lorde’s poem Coal which is arguably a poem about being Black and the power that comes with that identity. Oxford Dictionary’s definition of coal is “a combustible black or dark brown rock consisting mainly of carbonized plant matter, found mainly in underground deposits and widely used as fuel”. Lorde carries this definition into her poem, as her first few lines read “I/Is the total black/being spoken/From the earth’s inside”. From these lines, it can be insinuated that Lorde is identifying herself as the coal. As history shows, the earth is the birthplace of civilization, as civilizations get resources from the earth and build from the ground up. By writing about the power that she gains from being black, and therefore born from the earth, from nature, Lorde rewrites the narrative around being black. Instead of being oppressed, Lorde takes back that power. 

However, in the second stanza, Lorde writes “Some words live in my throat/Breeding like adders,” and then at the end of the second stanza, “Some words/Bedevil me.” These lines could potentially be interpreted as Lorde’s recognition that there still are the expectations for Black women and the possible repercussions she may face for speaking out about how she feels. By having words that “breed in her throat like adders” and “bedevil” her, Lorde may be hinting at the anger that she must suppress and keep to herself as a woman of color. 

Questions: 

What other lines in the poem Coal could point towards the idea of Black feminism or the oppression that Lorde and other Black women may have felt during the Black Feminist Movement, or continue to feel today?

There have been movements, (Civil Rights Movement, Black Feminist Movement, Black Liberation Movement, Women’s Movement, etc…) and still are movements (Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ+ Movements, Human Rights Movement) that are attempting and succeeding in changing the narratives and ways that different groups of people are being treated and how they exercise their rights. Why do you think these movements are successful/what do you think these movements could change to become more successful?

Hey everyone! My name is Michael Marinelli, but being that there are TOO MANY Michaels, I go by Mikey. A little bit about myself is that I am a Senior here at Cortland with a major in English. In my time here at Cortland, I have been President of the Acappella Club, Vice President of Theta Chi Fraternity. My freshman year, I studied abroad in India for 5 months which was absolutely life altering. In addition to all of those things about myself, I have two awesome pups back at home; a Pitbull named Rex and a Dachshund named Marley. Super excited to be apart of this awesome class with all of you! 🙂

Hi, I’m Kelly McCarthy and I am a senior at SUNY Cortland. My major is inclusive childhood education with a concentration in ELA. My dream job is to be a reading teacher in an elementary school. I love reading and writing as well as helping children learn. I am from Syracuse, but I grew up in Florida for 12 years. My dad went to Cortland so it has always been one of my top choices for college. I am excited for the rest of the semester and to learn more about Audre Lorde!

Hi! My name is Kianna Jade Acevedo. I am a Latina, born and raised in Queens, New York. A fun fact about myself is that I am a mix of Colombian, Puerto Rican, and Italian heritage, yet I find it almost impossible for myself to speak Spanish. Regardless of that fact, English has always been and will continue to be my favorite subject. I am studying at SUNY Cortland to become a certified Adolescent Education teacher so that I can touch the lives of students through the study of English. It is my last semester ever at C-State, and I am troubled by it. I'll miss the beautiful memories I have created here with some fantastic people I have met. I am on the D.R.A.M.A. dance team, and our team performs for fashion shows, competitions, and we are performing for a basketball game on February 21, if anyone would like to come to see! I am also a proud member of the C.U.R.E. educator scholarship program on campus and work at the Bookmark! I love everyone's pictures of their pets, and I am a proud owner of multiple animals too. I decided to upload a photo from my favorite childhood and now adulthood game: "Animal Crossing." This game brings me nothing but happiness, and I could play it all day long. It is very calming, adorable, and free on the app store. I must argue that the D.S. and the Switch version coming out in March are the best versions. I can't wait to take this course with you all, and I look forward to learning, laughing, and good memories in our 430 class.

I am a second semester senior and double majoring in Art and English and minoring in Anthropology. I am currently trying to be a finalist to intern at the MET (Metropolitan Museum of Art) so please wish me luck on that. I have a calico cat named Lenny, she’s about 18 – 19, I’ve had since I was in pre-school and acts as if she just turned 3. Not entirely sure what else to add but thank you for reading!