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A review by steveatwaywords
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Those looking to meet Audre Lorde unabashedly might stop here for a while and absorb her very intimate expressions of anger and optimism, insight and intersectionality--all, in brief, in search of the space for us to love freely.
These essays and speeches, mostly from 1978-1983, make frequent reference to events of the time and some of her ideas overlap across multiple titles, but none of this makes the reading less valuable. It may be that some readers are less interested in her travelogues, or her academic papers, or her lengthy interviews--but they are here all in a single collection, rightly demonstrating the complexity and range of Lorde's life and thought.
What you will not find here are much of her poetry (though it is frequently referenced; try From a Land Where Other People Live) or her extended reflections on her life (for this turn to her powerful mythobiography Zami).
What is here is amazingly prescient about where our broader discourse on race, feminism, queerness, and intersectionality would all take us, 40 years later. She is not so nearly affrontive or controversial in her demands today than in her time, and that is a good thing. Where I was illuminated, however--and appreciably so--is her optimism, her clear vision of a path forward. While the problems and questions she raises are now more commonly heard, we have yet to really embrace the strategies and solutions she sometimes calls for. Still more to learn, us.
These essays and speeches, mostly from 1978-1983, make frequent reference to events of the time and some of her ideas overlap across multiple titles, but none of this makes the reading less valuable. It may be that some readers are less interested in her travelogues, or her academic papers, or her lengthy interviews--but they are here all in a single collection, rightly demonstrating the complexity and range of Lorde's life and thought.
What you will not find here are much of her poetry (though it is frequently referenced; try From a Land Where Other People Live) or her extended reflections on her life (for this turn to her powerful mythobiography Zami).
What is here is amazingly prescient about where our broader discourse on race, feminism, queerness, and intersectionality would all take us, 40 years later. She is not so nearly affrontive or controversial in her demands today than in her time, and that is a good thing. Where I was illuminated, however--and appreciably so--is her optimism, her clear vision of a path forward. While the problems and questions she raises are now more commonly heard, we have yet to really embrace the strategies and solutions she sometimes calls for. Still more to learn, us.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Sexism, Police brutality, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
Lorde does not shy from sharing incidence of racial and misogynistic violence when they occur