Tribute to Audre Lorde, poet and warrior. (1934-1992)

Audre Lorde- Black lesbian feminist warrior mother poet essayist educator activist- died on November 17, 1992 after a fourteen-year struggle with cancer.

"I have come to believe over and over again that what is most important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood. That the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect... for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence"
Audre Lorde, "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action"

"For me, the primary challenge at the core of mastectomy was the stark look at my own mortality. Hinged upon the fear of a life-threatening cancer. This event called upon me to re-examine the quality and texture of my entire life, its priorities and commitments, as well as the possible alterations that might be required in the light of that re-examination. I had already faced my own death, whether or not I acknowledged it, and i needed now to develop that strength which survival had given me.

Prosthesis offers that empty comfort of "Nobody will know the difference". But it is that very difference which I wish to affirm, because I have lived it, and survived it, and wish to share that strength with other women. If we are to translate the silence surrounding breast cancer into language and action against this scourge, then the first step is that women with mastectomies become visible to each other. For silence and invisibility go hand in hand with powerlessness."
Audre Lorde, "The Cancer Journals",1980
(Chapter III, "Breast Cancer: Power vs. Prosthesis")

if i could turn
her words into air
for all women
facing breast cancer
to breath in,
to even consider
their fresh crisp truths
i would.

J.S.
photograph by Jean Weisinger