Age, Race, Class and Sex:
Women Redefining Difference
by Audre Lorde
“Change means growth, and growth can be painful. But we sharpen self-definition by exposing the self in work and struggle together with those whom we define as different from ourselves, although sharing the same goals. For Black and white, old and young, lesbian and heterosexual women alike, this can mean new paths to our survival.
We have chosen each other
and the edge of each others battles
the war is the same
if we lose
someday women's blood will congeal
upon a dead planet
if we win
there is no telling
we seek beyond history
for a new and more possible meeting.”
(Audre Lorde, "Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference"
Paper delivered at the Copeland Colloquium, Amerst College, April 1980)