On Audre Lorde: Using Prose & Poetry beyond English Classes (5)

 Audre Lorde identifies herself as a Black woman, lesbian, feminist, mother of two children, daughter of Grenadian immigrants, educator, cancer survivor, activist. Her body of work is expansive and intersectional, covering ageism, sexism, racism, homophobia, and class. One of the things that makes her work so powerful is the authenticity that comes from her writing from the perspectives of her social identities. Every word she uses, every sentence structure and literary device comes back to the core experiences of who she is, and as she moves through the world and reflects it gives a unique perspective that cannot be found elsewhere. The main body of Lorde's work is written in prose and poetry, journal entries of every thoughts and experiences as a Black lesbian woman feminist mother. She writes with grace and detail, describing each interaction and its impact on her and significance in greater society, but also going into detail about her physical surroundings, effectively transcending the reader exactly into the space and time she is reflecting upon. 

These characteristics are what make Lorde such a strong writer and literary artist, which is why her work can be used not only to study in English classes, but in teaching students about history and society as well. Lorde's writing should be used to encourage students to think and read critically, learning how to make connections between themselves and the things happening in the rest of the world. Her work can also be used to help students learn how to write; analyzing her various writing techniques and how she is able to teach through storytelling could be transformative for students in self-expression, and it is a skill that could be used later on in life for a career as well. Yet, bounding her work to these narrow parameters takes away the value of who she was as a writer and human being, and overlooks the significance of her teachings. 

The book, Sister Outsider, is a collection of essays and poetry from Audre Lorde and some of her most notable works. One that is particularly meaningful in embodying the malleability of her work for educational spaces is the short essay "Poetry Is Not A Luxury" first published in 1977. In this piece, she discusses the role of poetry in the woman experience. She also writes about the power of women in social movements, the role of the child and youth in our changing society, and many other topics related to learning and unlearning, and intersections of feminism. This is a primary example of a piece that could be used for examining literary techniques and helping students learn about poetry and writing, however, the depths of the topics which she covers should be used in teaching history and other social studies as well. Her discussions of women's role in social movements and the power of youth and expression in making change could be used as a reference to analyze significant events in history and how women, children, and art played a role. In diversifying the classroom through curriculum and materials, it is important to be creative in how that is implemented, looking for some of the less obvious routes to utilize diverse bodies of work. This not only opens up more opportunities to use more different sources of knowledge, but it also can help students learn how to connect with the learning materials in different ways. 

Gabriella S. Hoard