Among the constellation of Black women who have helped shape me, Audre Lorde shines brightly.
The desire to name and exalt a singular figure is one that stands in opposition to the emphasis on communal and collective learning and loving that animates Ghanaian culture. I’m not here through my own sheer will, though it’s certainly played a defining role in my survival; I’m here because others protected and fought for me, held me close and accountable, and helped me understand my own unique place in the world. At my best and brightest, I am a mirror of love’s brilliance.
Among the constellation of Black women who have helped shape me, Audre Lorde shines brightly. Her essays, writing and poetry, take pride of place on the altar of my bedside table, and her lessons and wisdom course through my mind and heart as I build what I hope transforms the world around me – for me and for others. When I was searching for ways to understand myself, Audre’s work offered me safe passage into the deep tunnels of Black lesbian desire. She kicked open doors to anger and guided me towards the vast and cleansing waters of myself.
She taught me to be unafraid as I navigated a white world and LGBTQ community that wanted me to go back to where I came from (I’m from Enfield, by the way). When I founded UK Black Pride in 2005, now Europe’s largest pride celebration for LGBTQ people of colour, leaders at London’s mainstream pride event at the time laughed in my face when I asked them for support. Their jeering increased as I spoke more publicly about the need for safe and brave spaces for LGBTQ communities of colour, but I was not deterred because I had Audre at my back, reminding me: “I have come to believe over and over again that what is important to me must be spoken, made verbal and shared, even at the risk of having it bruised or misunderstood.”
My adoration and respect for Audre is reflective of my commitment to constant learning. Some knowledge is hard-earned, like the constant education of being a Black woman in the world, and some is offered more gently: kitchen table conversations with other women, beautiful books of poetry and biography, and corrections in our interpersonal interactions. But hard or gentle, our essential task is to translate our learning and knowledge into action. What do we do with what we learn? Audre’s work is only as powerful as what I make it mean in the world.
