by Audre Lorde
First published 1986
In "Our Dead Behind Us," Audre Lorde's powerful voice demands justice. Her poems confront racism, sexism, and homophobia, refusing to stay silent. From the personal to the political, Lorde's words blaze with outrage, tenderness, and the fierce urgency of change. Intimate reflections on family and sexuality intertwine with protests against oppression. Lorde's lyrical mastery transforms the brutalities of the everyday into searing indictments of a society that fails the most vulnerable. Yet amid the wrath, her poetry also brims with resilience, self-love, and a revolutionary vision for a more equitable world.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, gender-studies, feminism, african-american, biography-memoir, 21st-century, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: protest, revolutionary-vision, social-justice
86 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: homophobia, racism, sexism