I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable.
Interpretation
The struggles faced by Black women are rooted in both their race and gender, creating an inseparable duality of oppression and empowerment.
In this quote, Audre Lorde articulates the intersectionality of her identity as a Black woman, emphasizing that her experiences of power and oppression are intertwined. She asserts that to understand her struggles, one must recognize how her racial identity and gender intersect, suggesting that the fight for justice is not merely about one aspect of her identity, but about the complex interplay of both her blackness and womanhood.
In practice
During a women's rights conference, one might use this quote to discuss the importance of addressing the unique struggles of marginalized women.
The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.
There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself - whether it's Black, woman, mother, dyke, teacher, etc. - because that's the piece that they need to key in to. They want to dismiss everything else.
Despair is typical of those who do not understand the causes of evil, see no way out, and are incapable of struggle. The modern industrial proletariat does not belong to the category of such classes.
To be unattached is not to renounce the world. If you renounce the world you are attached to the world; otherwise why should you renounce it? What is the point in renouncing it if you are not attached to it? Only attachment renounces. If you are really non-attached there is no question of any renunciation.
When people are deeply affected by the Word, they tell it to other people.
No iron can pierce the human heart as chillingly as a full stop placed at the right time.
It is impossible for someone to lie unless he thinks he knows the truth. Producing bullshit requires no such conviction.
Still everyone, including the abbot, had said that he was running away from his grief. They'd had no idea what they were talking about. He'd cradled his grief, almost to the point of loving it. For so long he refused to give it up, because leaving it behind was like leaving her.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.