‘Dare to Be Powerful’ 2021: Happy Birthday, Audre!
This story is a transcript of “‘Dare to Be Powerful’ 2021: Happy Birthday, Audre!” – Episode 15 of Better to Speak: The Podcast.
Audre Lorde. The self-described “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Gamba Adisa. She who makes her meaning known. February 18 would have been her 87th birthday, and because the entire premise of Better to Speak was created from her words – I want to take a moment to honor her life and legacy, and also use this space to announce season two of Better to Speak: The Podcast as well as our organization’s intentions for 2021.
So for those of you who don’t know me in real life, my name is Kési and I currently study journalism at Howard University. One of my first classes at Howard was of course an English class, a regular old general ed, and one of, if not the first article we read was “The Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action” by none other than Audre Lorde.
I remember feeling a clear call to action from reading that essay – to ease out the barriers within myself that kept me from making my voice heard and make known what I felt needed to be shared. This essay, its message, the message in “A Litany for Survival,'' the poem from which Better to Speak got its name, all communicate this idea – it’s one that I revisit very often for guidance in both in my personal life and as I approach my work for Better to Speak. It’s the foundation of projects like this podcast, as well as all of Better to Speak’s other initiatives like Your Silence Will Not Protect You – a phrase that also came from this essay – and it’s an idea that will continue to guide my work as I get into the throws of 2021.
However, I’ve been thinking a lot about how to kind of expand on this idea to build off of the foundation of work we’ve done so far. And, of course, while looking back to Audre’s words for guidance – trying to look through some of her other works, actually, for inspiration – I ended right back at “The Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action,” and specifically this paragraph:
“In becoming forcibly and essentially aware of my mortality, and of what I wished and wanted for my life, however short it might be, priorities and omissions became strongly etched in a merciless light, and what I most regretted were my silences. Of what had I ever been afraid? To question or to speak as I believed could have meant pain, or death. But we all hurt in so many different ways, all the time, and pain will either change or end. Death, on the other had, is the final silence. And that might be coming quickly, now, without regard for whether I had ever spoken what needed to be said, or had only betrayed myself into small silences, while I planned someday to speak, or waited for someone else’s words. And I began to recognize a source of power within myself that comes from the knowledge that while it is most desirable not to be afraid, learning to put fear into perspective gave me great strength.”
Now there’s one word in there that if you look at my physical copy of the book I’m reading from Your Silence Will Not Protect You, has a little explosion bubble around it – and that word is “power.” I’ve been reflecting on the word, the idea, the concept of power and the role it plays in sociopolitical issues and our personal lives.
I think especially after last summer, many of us felt this call to step into our collective, and even personal, power. I think that we, again, saw the implications of power and its abuse. And I’m speaking for myself, but I know I’m not alone in that I took a lot of time to think about the role power plays in my life, both personally and politically.
Another Audre Lorde quote reads: “When I dare to be powerful — to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” I think this quote again calls back to this idea of overcoming fear, complacency, and perceived weakness to embrace a more empowered self. As for where I think this work lies for me, where my vision lies is in storytelling, content creation, collaborating with other people to shift personal and collective narratives and ultimately reclaim power that way – beginning with the stories we not only tell but embody about ourselves and our world.
Logistically, I’m trying to be extremely intentional about collaborating with others – whether that’s through this podcast, through our events, through client work and other projects – I want to make those all more intentional processes not just in the public-facing content but also the journey to arrive at that point, as to not discount the opportunity there to embody the idea of using my voice as well as my strength in service of my vision. And that’s not just a fancy and well worded like marketing strategy like, at the end of the day yes, but I’ve found that this is the avenue that I feel most impactful, so I want to find ways to lean into that more and continue the work in this lane I’m already carving for myself and for Better to Speak.
So, as for where that leaves you, my dear listener: I want you to be involved in this work and the conversations we have this year as much as any of the guests we have on this season – all of which I’m super excited about. I won’t say that’ll look like a spot on the podcast or anything like that because I do have a very strict spreadsheet that I try to follow – however, I am looking to partner, collaborate, and build community with people who are also working to transform silence into language and action, however that may manifest for you. If you head to bettertospeak.org/power you can learn more about what we have planned for this year and take the “Dare to Be Powerful” pledge right now to get onto our email list and in our database as we start to roll stuff out.
The Podcast will officially be back with a special episode on March 1 to kick off year four of Better to Speak: The Book Drive, and then we’ll be back and rolling with the rest of the season in April once the book drive is over. For more information about Better to Speak you can head to bettertospeak.org or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. If you’d like to donate you can find the link to do so – through the podcast at least – in the bottom of the description of whatever platform you’re listening on right now. You can also donate through our PayPal which you can find here.
I think that’s all the boring admin stuff, so be sure to tune in to future episodes of The Podcast where we’ll dive into various sociopolitical topics not only with the goal of transforming silence into language and action but also with the goal of examining – and ultimately redefining – power; and to the website for additional content and information on how you can get involved!
