Before her death, Gloria Joseph’s late partner, Audre Lorde, asked Joseph to write a biography about her.

“I asked her, ‘What do you want this biography to do?’” Joseph said. “Her response was, ‘To leave a story of who I am, and all my complexities, and to make the quality of my life so irresistible for the people who share my visions.’”

Joseph, a widely regarded black feminist icon, visited the Community Folk Art Center in Syracuse on Monday evening to read from and discuss her latest biographical piece, “The Wind Is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde.” The audience in the center’s gallery were surrounded by pictures depicting black womanhood.

Her visit was part of the Democratizing Knowledge Project, which is co-sponsored by Syracuse University’s Department of African American Studies, the Cultural Foundations of Education Program, the Humanities Center, the Intergroup Dialogue Program, the LGBT Resource Center, LGBT Studies Program, Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration and the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies, according to an SU News release.

Joseph has been regarded as a “living, radical, feminist legend,” and has spent the last 60 years confronting sexism, injustice and homophobia, according to the release. Lorde, Joseph’s late partner of more than four decades, described herself as a “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” and wrote poems and essays that addressed issues of racial injustice, according to the release.

Before the start of the reading and introductions, a traditional African ceremony was held to honor “the presence and wisdom” of the two elders present, Joseph and the spirit of Lorde. Joseph was then introduced by Chandra Talpade Mohanty, a professor of women’s and gender studies and head of the gender studies department at SU.

Mohanty began her introduction with a quote by author Henry Giroux: “Stories are important. They keep us alive. In the ships, in the camps, in the quarters, field, prisons, on the road, on the run, underground, under siege.”

Mohanty then said she believed Lorde’s spirit would grace the audience as they remembered her, and then welcomed Joseph to the stage.

Joseph read sections from her book, which is a biography of Lorde that brings together a wide range of authors and activists who submitted essays, reflections, stories, poems, memoirs and photos to reflect how Lorde’s life inspired many people.

One section Joseph read was about a speech Lorde gave while accepting an award and how it had an immediate impact on the audience listening.

“This section really tells you about Audre’s impact in terms of resisting oppressions,” Joseph said.

Joseph also answered questions from the audience about Lorde, her relationship with her, her craft and the presence of spirits in her life. She said she believes in the presence of spirituality in all aspects of life, whether it be religion or not, and said she believes spirits greatly affect people.

“That’s the best I can do until the spirit moves you,” Joseph said at the conclusion of her speech.

Published on February 29, 2016 at 11:56 pm

Contact Deniz: dsahintu@syr.edu