Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

The woman's place of power within each of us is neither white nor surface; it is dark, it is ancient, and it is deep The revolutionary writings of Audre Lorde gave voice to those 'outside the circle of this society's definition of acceptable women'. Uncompromising, angry and yet full of hope, this collection of her essential prose - essays, speeches, letters, interviews - explores race, sexuality, poetry, friendship, the erotic and the need for female solidarity, and includes her landmark piece 'The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House'. 'The truth of her writing is as necessary today as it's ever been' Guardian

An essential feminist work. I think I would feel more passionately about it if I shared some of Lorde's identity and struggle beyond being a woman. BUT is that not essential to much fo what she argues? That our power is in bonding over our differences rather than letting them divide us?

There are some really powerful essays in here; Lorde's establishment as a black, queer, feminist tour-de-force of her time and years to come is undeniable.

Probably more of a 3.5 but I am rounding up.

This was an interesting collection of essays, and I liked getting to know a historical perspective of feminism from a Black lesbian woman. The audiobook is narrated well too and I would definitely recommend the format. It might not feel as inclusive as we would like it to be, but it wasn't really a deal breaker for me.

Update: I reread this in preparation for lending it to my girlfriend. I initially planned to reread a few of my favorite essays within (“The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” “Age, Race, Class, and Sex,” “Uses of the Erotic,” “The Uses of Anger,”...) before recalling that almost all the essays are my favorite essays and you can't read this book in pieces. Her writing on white women and white feminism is especially precise and candid. Lorde's body of work is as interconnected with itself as she explains are marginalized peoples connected with one another, bonded by power and hope if we are willing to confront our differences and our sameness. This is a book to read again and again.

Iconic. All written 40+ years ago but just as relevant today. I have never read such a wonderful blend of fury, candor, and hope and love and compassion.