Lois 's Reviews > Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley.

The narrator of this audiobook is the author Alexis Pauline Gumbs. She does a wonderful job as narrator. I like that her passion, excitement, respect and inquisitiveness can be heard as the text is narrated. Its a wonderful opportunity for the audiobook listener.

I can not stress enough how much the woman I am today was formed by reading Audre Lorde. I discovered Ms. Lorde's poetry in high school. I was a precocious kid, I read The Color Purple in the 5th grade; My mom set it down, purple was my favorite color and I liked the cover.🤷🏾‍♀️
I was a baby Black feminist by middle school, lol. Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Alice Walker, Zora Neale Hurston, Lorraine Hansberry, Maya Angelou, June Jordan and later Toni Morrison & Angela Davis pretty much guaranteed I would become who I am today.
Audre Lorde who studied Ifa religion enough to have herself identified as a whirlwind child of Oya, indeed embodied the spirit of a warrior. I am in her awe. I am because she is.

This is an excellent and unique look at the life of the late great Ms. Lorde. Starting with her somewhat slightly privileged upbringing as far as access to educational opportunities. Her story is well known to her stans but this offers her up to a new generation. It invites the reader to get to know her beyond her essays and more by her poetry, which mirrored her creative soul. It's just a stunningly beautiful introduction to not just her factual history but her environment: culturally, politically, etc. Its modern in that it acknowledges her families access to light skin or passing privilege. Also invaluable insight into how Audre's own place as the darkest in her family marked her treatment from her mother and possibly contributed to her rebellious spirit. As a society we understand so much more about the generational impact of trauma. The US was hostile to both Black folks and immigrants, so being both during The Great Depression must've been fraught with danger for her parents. A few of their struggles are highlighted but how that informed their parental qualities is guess work.
Audre's rebellious, truth telling courageous spirit did have limits though. Her treatment of June Jordan over Lorde's silence on Palestine was brutal and cowardly.
I absolutely loved this biography. Its easily accessible, interesting and extremely informative.

Thank you to Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.