“Without Community There is No Liberation” – Audre Lorde

In a speech, at “The Personal and the Political Panel” at the Second Sex Conference in New York, September 29, 1979, Audre Lorde implores the  audience to think critically about the communities we align ourselves with and the intersections that are left out. Who does it benefit to ignore those differences? When the oppressed are kept occupied with survival, oppressors continue to oil the cogs of the systems that were built to sustain their power.

At the core, Audre Lorde‘s comments stand to challenge what today we might refer to as a culturally relevant lens, including the intersectionalities of race, gender, class, age and sexuality. Her statements question the love between feminists who identify beyond white and Black and this is a poignant note to consider.

As we have witnessed, the silence of feminists considering the oppression of Palestinian lives, has been evident. Where is the love for Palestinian women and their families? This could be asked of every community currently experiencing war, displacement, hunger and starvation.

And this is why these words matter. “Difference must be not merely tolerated…” Community is not active in silos, it has to acknowledge different identities and experiences to truly work for liberation.