A part of African American Literature that you will not hear much about is the literature and literary contribution of African American Lesbians. In the essay “Toward a Black Feminist Criticism” author Barbara Smith implied that there was a great silence when it comes to the writings of Black women and black lesbians. Because of this, many readers have been prevented from experiencing the contributions of these writers. Thankfully, works or authors such as Audre Lorde have been acknowledged and celebrated by many lovers of literature.

Audre Lorde was born in Harlem to parents Frederick Byron Lord and Linda Gertrude Belmar Lorde. Lord was legally blind and she learned to read and write at four years of age. When Audre was in the eighth grade she wrote her first poem.

In 1954 Audre attended the National University of Mexico. Lorde called this time in her life a period of renewal and affirmation. This was the period of her life when she solidified her identity as a poet and a lesbian. Later on she returned to New York and continued writing. She started to participate in the gay culture of the residents of Greenwich Village. In 1961 Lorde graduated from Columbia with a MA degree in library science.

During her life Audre Lorde wrote poetry and was also an activist. The poetry of Audre Lorde was published in the 1960s. Her work appeared in “New Negro Poets” in 1962, black literary magazines and foreign anthologies. In 1968 she published her first volume of poetry, “The First Cities”. A reviewer of the piece said that though Lorde “does not wave a black flag” but her identity as a black woman was clearly there within the piece. In 1970, Lorde published her second volume of poetry, “Cables to Rage”. This volume of poetry addressed themes such as love, childbirth, and betrayal. A noteworthy poem in this volume was “Martha” where she lyrically confirmed her lesbianism. In 1980, Audre Lorde along with other lesbians authors formed Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press. This was the first publisher in the U.S for women of color.

With the publication of Betty Friedan’s “The Feminine Mystique”, feminists made it know that they were seeking equality for all women. Lorde however, believed that the experiences of African American women were decidedly different then the experience of middle class white women. Her writings focused on the “theory of difference.” Lorde believed that though feminists portray a unified front of all women, women fall into many different categories and their experiences are different on many different levels. Lorde had no desire to be lumped into one arbitrary category. She said that the issues of age, gender, race and class all define the feminine experience. The feminist movement of Lorde’s time was focusing on the unity and singular experience of all women, Lorde believed that feminist should be conscious of such things as race and class.

Though Lorde’s works acknowledge the wide differences of men and women, her body of work were mainly concerned with race and sexuality. Lorde also expressed femininity through her poetry. The poet focused her writing on differences between women and inner conflicts inside of an individual. She believed herself to be a “concert of voices” within herself. In her poetry Audre Lorde reflected her desire to be seen as not a woman, a black woman, or even a lesbian but as an individual.

While Audre Lorde gave us a wonderful body of work, her life and art remind us to strive to be seen as only wives, mothers, girlfriends, family members, businesswoman, or superwomen but as the unique jewels that we all are.