Audre Lorde is the next author in my series of quotes about motherhood in honor of LGBT History Month. Again, these quotes are meant to represent a wide variety of views. I hope they spark a bit of interest in reading some of the lesbian authors of our past.
I see the nurturing principle as also one of the saviors of the human race, whether it occurs in women or whether it occurs in men. I am very much in touch with mine. I think we are all mothers in that sense. You see, what we have done essentially, is relegate to that word “mother” a whole set of feelings and patterns of relationships with other human beings that are basically nurturing, that are basically helpful. We’ve said, those belong to mother and nowhere else. I believe that the word “mother” needs to be fed into the grinder and come out M-H-T, whatever, come out initials, or come out just pap which we can then spread, because I believe it is part and parcel of us all, and I think it’s one of the saving principles of human relationships, that we do help each other, that we do respond in terms of survival and teaching. And that’s what motherhood is all about.
—Conversations With Audre Lorde
Wow. That’s beautiful. I’ve read a lot of what she’s written and spoken, but not this. Thank you very much for shining the bright light of her wisdom here.