Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing.
Interpretation
We often have to fight for change in challenging circumstances rather than ideal ones.
Audre Lorde highlights the reality that while we may sometimes have the privilege to choose our battles and the conditions in which we fight for change, more often than not, we must confront struggles within the constraints of our current situations. This reflection emphasizes resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity.
In practice
This quote would be perfect for a motivational speech addressing social justice activists.
The fact that we are here and that I speak these words is an attempt to break that silence and bridge some of those differences between us, for it is not difference which immobilizes us, but silence. And there are so many silences to be broken.
There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.
There are no new ideas. There are only new ways of making them felt.
I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.
I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.
There's always someone asking you to underline one piece of yourself - whether it's Black, woman, mother, dyke, teacher, etc. - because that's the piece that they need to key in to. They want to dismiss everything else.
From the pain come the dream_x000D_ From the dream come the vision_x000D_ From the vision come the people_x000D_ From the people come the power_x000D_ From this power come the change.
In my time, the follies of the town crept slowly among us, but now they travel faster than a stagecoach.
Thou knowest, winter tames man, woman, and beast.
Passion is the bridge that takes you from pain to change.
Life changes in the instant. The ordinary instant.
This is the fear that made fish crawl out onto dry land and evolve lungs, the fear that teaches us to run, the fear that makes us bury our dead.
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