Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

Audre Lorde (1934-1992) was a Black lesbian feminist poet, essayist, and activist whose work reshaped American literature and political thought. Born in Harlem to Caribbean immigrant parents, she described herself as a "Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet" and insisted on the full weight of every part of that identity. Her essays and speeches, collected in landmark books such as Sister Outsider and The Cancer Journals, take on racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and class, and argue that difference can be a source of strength rather than division. Her ideas about intersecting identities and the erotic as a form of power remain foundational across Black, feminist, and LGBTQ+ movements. Lorde died of cancer in 1992.