Through the month of October, Pride Soc will be using this account to highlight some queer, Black women who may have been sidelined or overlooked by history.
Audre Lorde (1934–1992) was a poet, essayist, librarian, feminist, and equal rights activist. Among her most notable works are “Coal” (1976), “The Black Unicorn” (1978), “The Cancer Journals” (1980) and “Zami: A New Spelling of My Name” (1982). She once said, “I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t,”
While attending the National University of Mexico, Lorde accepted her identity as a lesbian and began to socialise at downtown working-class lesbian bars while keeping her sexual preference a secret during classes at Hunter College. Despite this, she had two children with her husband, Edward Rollins, a white gay man, before they divorced in 1970. In 1972, she met her long-time partner, Frances Clayton.
Thank you to the Pride Society and Kit Lashmar for supplying the profiles. Head over to their Instagram to see more profiles being published through out October.