But, on the other hand, I get bored with racism too and recognize that there are still many things to be said about a Black person and a White person loving each other in a racist society. Audre Lorde More Quotes by Audre Lorde More Quotes From Audre Lorde The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never allow us to bring about genuine change. Audre Lorde games house may You cannot use someone else's fire. You can only use your own. And in order to do that, you must first be willing to believe that you have it. Audre Lorde fire order believe Once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that they feel in accordance with that joy which we know ourselves to be capable of. Our erotic knowledge empowers us, becomes a lens through which we scrutinize all aspects of our existence, forcing us to evaluate those aspects honestly in terms of their relative meaning within our lives. . . . Audre Lorde erotic empowering joy The white fathers told us: I think, therefore I am. The black goddess within each of us - the poet - whispers in our dreams: I feel, therefore I can be free. Audre Lorde dream father thinking We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings. Audre Lorde craving raised has-beens I am a reflection of my mother’s secret poetry as well as of her hidden angers Audre Lorde reflection secret mother There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt. Audre Lorde black-history way ideas I am a Black Feminist. I mean I recognize that my power as well as my primary oppressions come as a result of my blackness as well as my womaness, and therefore my struggles on both of these fronts are inseparable. Audre Lorde feminist struggle mean How much of this truth can I bear to see and still live unblinded? How much of this pain can I use? Audre Lorde pain use bears Battling racism and battling heterosexism and battling apartheid share the same urgency inside me as battling cancer. Audre Lorde cancer racism justice The failure of academic feminists to recognize difference as a crucial strength is a failure to reach beyond the first patriarchal lesson. In our world, divide and conquer must become define and empower. Audre Lorde empowering our-world differences to that piece in each of us that refuses to be silent. Audre Lorde silent refuse pieces The erotic has often been misnamed by men and used against women. It has been made into the confused, the trivial, the psychotic, the plasticized sensation. Audre Lorde erotic confused men Tell them about how you're never really a whole person if you remain silent, because there's always that one little piece inside you that wants to be spoken out, and if you keep ignoring it, it gets madder and madder and hotter and hotter, and if you don't speak it out one day it will just up and punch you in the mouth from the inside. Audre Lorde pieces one-day mouths I am Black because I come from the earth's inside Audre Lorde black light jewels I have no creative use for guilt, yours or my own. Guilt is only another way of avoiding informed action, of buying time out of the pressing need to make clear choices, out of the approaching storm that can feed the earth as well as bend the trees. Audre Lorde choices creative tree Raising Black children-female and male-in the mouth of a racist, sexist, suicidal dragon is perilous and chancy. If they cannot love and resist at the same time, they will probably not survive. Audre Lorde suicidal dragons children When I hear the deepest truths I speak coming out of my mouth sounding like my mother's, even remembering how I fought against her, I have to reassess both our relationship as well as the sources of my knowing. Audre Lorde knowing mouths mother But the true feminist deals out of a lesbian consciousness whether or not she ever sleeps with women. Audre Lorde feminist sleep motivational The erotic is a measure between the beginnings of our sense of self and the chaos of our strongest feelings. Audre Lorde erotic self feelings
