Jess’s Reviews > The Selected Works of Audre Lorde > Status Update

I liked Lorde’s discussion about how it may seem easier & safer to conform. There’s some truth to that, but you still won’t ever be fully accepted. It’s better to be honest with yourself, voice your opinions, & fully address oppressive forces; as Lorde states. Her poetry is wonderful too. I liked having the prose before the poetry, because it gave valuable context.

It’s important to hear about Audre Lorde’s experiences as a Black woman with cancer. Medical malpractice & discrimination are real, even more so during the 80s than now. I’m glad she combined her self-preservation instincts & her own research, this allowed her to find doctors who were better suited to treat her.

How moving to read Lorde’s journal entries while she had a liver tumor. She still had so much passion & dedication towards teaching & advocating for other women in her community. She was fearless; standing up for herself & asking why she was giving a lesson about being a Black woman with no Black women in the audience.

-explain themselves well & they shouldn’t do it to try to spare privileged communities from guilt. Guilt is useful when it becomes a catalyst for change, but when it ruminates & overstays its welcome, it becomes harmful shame.

Lorde is absolutely right; anger can be empowering when expressed. It’s understandable that marginalized communities become angry when faced with discrimination. During my healing & learning, I’ve discovered that anger is a signal emotion; it lets us know that a boundary has been crossed, & it’s truly other feeling(s) in disguise. Asking marginalized communities to not be angry is unfair; they can still-

-liberation while still operating under the rules of your oppressor. Applying oppressive, colonial norms to your own community will not bring freedom. I liked how she acknowledges that all forms of oppression are linked & how capitalism makes things even more rigid.

Your silence will not protect you! What is better, to speak or to die? We must take our power back by expressing our feelings & opinions! Even if we fear it may be meaningless, we must be brave & do it regardless! We deny ourselves & others by not sharing; & by not listening. Audre Lorde emphasizes the importance of taking multiple perspectives. We have a lot to learn from others, both similar & different to us.

Only listened to 1 part so far, but so excited to explore more of Audre Lorde’s work (& something longer)! I’ve only read individual works. I love her exploration of critical analysis, revelation, & identity. It’s not enough to recognize that we dislike living under systemic oppression; we need to consider its limitations & find who we truly are despite it, not under the expectations of others.