Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches by Audre Lorde

13 reviews

amelody's review against another edition

informative reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism

introverted_reads's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Hate crime, Infertility, Police brutality, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and Classism

rieviolet's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Like any kind of collection, there are always some parts that you like better than other ones but, overall, there is an awful lot to appreciate here and many interesting, challenging and complex reflections to ponder over.

There were a couple of chapters that I didn't much care about and, in places, were also a bit of a struggle to get through (for example "Notes from a Trip to Russia"; "An Interview: Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich", which was way too long, too much focused on their personal relationship, and also I do not like Adrienne Rich).

I have to admit that some sections were a bit difficult to understand, but that has more to do with me lacking in similar personal experiences and knowledge, than to any fault of the author. 

A lot of what Audre Lorde reflected on and wrote about back then still resonates deeply today. I think it will be worth it to read more from the author and then revisit these essays.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, Lesbophobia, Colonisation, and War

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

meganpbell's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Published nearly 40 years ago, this iconic collection of essays, interviews, and speeches by the self-described "black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet" Audre Lorde remains as powerful, impactful, and relevant as ever. Here, in these brilliantly intersectional writings, Lorde confronts sexism, racism, and homophobia, all while inviting us to see the potential for political change in social difference and revelation in the erotic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, and Lesbophobia

Moderate: Racial slurs and Murder

Minor: Cancer, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and War

yaoipaddle's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Very very very good. My copy is full of annotations for quotes I liked, inspiration I found, facts and stories I wanted to look up further, facts I wanted to pull for reference when speaking with others. 

Definitely not a book to just read and put away without Audre's words tying themselves into your brain.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

steveatwaywords's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Those looking to meet Audre Lorde unabashedly might stop here for a while and absorb her very intimate expressions of anger and optimism, insight and intersectionality--all, in brief, in search of the space for us to love freely.

These essays and speeches, mostly from 1978-1983, make frequent reference to events of the time and some of her ideas overlap across multiple titles, but none of this makes the reading less valuable. It may be that some readers are less interested in her travelogues, or her academic papers, or her lengthy interviews--but they are here all in a single collection, rightly demonstrating the complexity and range of Lorde's life and thought.

What you will not find here are much of her poetry (though it is frequently referenced; try From a Land Where Other People Live) or her extended reflections on her life (for this turn to her powerful mythobiography Zami). 

What is here is amazingly prescient about where our broader discourse on race, feminism, queerness, and intersectionality would all take us, 40 years later. She is not so nearly affrontive or controversial in her demands today than in her time, and that is a good thing. Where I was illuminated, however--and appreciably so--is her optimism, her clear vision of a path forward. While the problems and questions she raises are now more commonly heard, we have yet to really embrace the strategies and solutions she sometimes calls for. Still more to learn, us.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Sexism, Violence, and Police brutality

Minor: Sexual content

Lorde does not shy from sharing incidence of racial and misogynistic violence when they occur

mandkips's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Sexism

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Rape

Minor: Cancer, Sexual violence, and Police brutality

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, and Classism

robinks's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

What a powerful introduction to Audre Lorde’s words. I read so many lines over and over to let them sink in. There were such meaningful, clear anecdotes and heavy research to support Lorde’s points. This is definitely a collection I will come back to time and time again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Homophobia, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Genocide, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Police brutality

kennedylamb's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, and Lesbophobia