A Burst of Light: and Other Essays
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
"Lorde's words — on race, cancer, intersectionality, parenthood, injustice — burn with relevance 25 years after her death." — O, The Oprah Magazine
Winner of the 1988 Before Columbus Foundation National Book Award, this path-breaking collection of essays is a clarion call to build communities that nurture our spirit. Lorde announces the need for a radical politics of intersectionality while struggling to maintain her own faith as she wages a battle against liver cancer.
From reflections on her struggle with the disease to thoughts on lesbian sexuality and African-American identity in a straight white man's world, Lorde's voice remains enduringly relevant in today's political landscape.
Those who practice and encourage social justice activism frequently quote her exhortation, "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare." In addition to the journal entries of "A Burst of Light: Living with Cancer," this edition includes an interview, "Sadomasochism: Not About Condemnation," and three essays, "I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities," "Apartheid U.S.A.," and "Turning the Beat Around: Lesbian Parenting 1986," as well as a new Foreword by Sonia Sanchez.
"You don't read Audre Lorde, you feel her." — Essence
"Lorde's timeless prose in this collection provides contemporary social justice warriors the language, strategies, and lessons around resistance, through the power of intersectionality, a Pan-African vision, and — ultimately — through the power of love and radical self-care." — NBC News
"When I don't know what to do, I turn to the Lorde." — Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Bitch Media
"Whenever my mind is heavy with questions and my heart thirsts for nourishment, I turn to the writing of Audre Lorde. Every time I revisit the words of Audre Lorde, I marvel over how relevant they continue to be." — AfterEllen.com
"The self-described black feminist lesbian mother poet used a mixture of prose, theory, poetry, and experience to interrogate oppressions and uplift marginalized communities. She was one of the first black feminists to target heteronormativity, and to encourage black feminists to expand their understanding of erotic pleasure. She amplified anti-oppression, even as breast cancer ravaged her ailing body." — Evette Dionne, Bustle Magazine
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Audre Lorde, alongside bell hooks and others, helped redefine feminism in the 1980s and ’90s by centering race and sexuality in the conversation. Although this slim, powerful book of essays was first published in 1988, it's just as thought-provoking and enlightening now. A huge part of that is Lorde’s relatable, jargon-free, and non-academic style. That’s particularly clear in the inspiring title essay, based on the journal she kept as she began treatment for the cancer that would take her life in 1992. She’s as unafraid facing death (“I'm going to go out like a f---ing meteor!”) as she is when recounting a 1960s night in a white suburban neighborhood when she and a friend spray-painted all the cast-iron Black jockeys in the yards white. Robin Miles’ narration captures every bit of Lorde’s passion, humor, and dedication to freedom for everyone.
