200 Years of LGBTQIA+ History

From Shadows to Pride — UK & Global Timeline

Source Record

Audre Lorde

Why this source is used

Smithsonian museum biography covering Audre Lorde as a poet, lesbian, activist, and civil rights/women's movement figure.

Start with the answer

Start with the answer How did lesbian visibility develop in the 20th century? Lesbian visibility developed through literature, censorship battles, community publications, parliamentary representation and Black lesbian feminist writing. Read the topic guide Lesbian Literature and Organising Lesbian visibility grew through censored literature, private networks, community publications, parliamentary representation and Black lesbian feminist writing.

Source Status

Publisher
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Type
archive
Reliability
high
Cited by
3 pages

Source Links

Open original source https://nmaahc.si.edu/audre-lorde Accessed 2 June 2026 Open archived copy https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://nmaahc.si.edu/audre-lorde

Used by Topics

Lesbian Literature and Organising

Used by Questions

How did lesbian visibility develop in the 20th century?

Used by Timeline Events

1982 CulturalActivismPeople

Audre Lorde Publishes Zami — Black Lesbian Feminist Masterwork

Audre Lorde published Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, a 'biomythography' blending autobiography, history, and myth to tell the story of growing up Black and lesbian in New York in the 1950s. Lorde described herself as a 'Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet' and insisted on the inseparability of her identities. Her works — including Sister Outsider, The Cancer Journals, and the poem collection The Black Unicorn — articulated the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class with a clarity that was decades ahead of its time. Lorde co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press and helped establish women's studies and African diaspora literature as academic fields.