“If you come as softlyAs wind within the treesYou may hear what I hearSee what sorrow sees.If you come as lightlyAs threading dewI will take you gladlyNor ask more of you.You may sit beside meSilent as a breathOnly those who stay deadShall remember death.And if you come I will be silentNor speak harsh words to you.I will not ask you why, now.Or how, or what you do.We shall sit here, softlyBeneath two different yearsAnd the rich earth between usShall drink our tears.”

American writer, professor, philosopher, poet, civil rights activist, and intersectional feminist

Audre Lorde was an American writer, professor, philosopher, poet, civil rights activist, and intersectional feminist. She is remembered for a life devoted to challenging injustice and oppression, and for naming herself as a Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet. Her work and public voice were rooted in struggles for liberation, equality, and dignity. She argued against ranking forms of oppression, insisting that people committed to freedom and a livable future for children should not be divided by whose suffering counts most.