Audre Lorde Speaks on Granada

(Continued from p. 4)

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than with the restoration of power in the eyes of the American public: the image of American marines splashing through little Black blood 'To keep our honor clean, ', the Marine Anthem says. So you were diverted from recession, unemploy- ment, the debacles in Beirut, from nuc- lear madness, the dying oceans and the growing national depression by the bomb- ing of a mental hospital where 50 people were killed in their beds.

"The ready acceptance by the majority of Americans of the Grenadan invasion, and of the shady United States involvement in all of the events leading up to the assassination of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, both happened in an America whose moral and ethical fiber has been weakened by racism as thoroughly as wood has been weakened by dry rot. White America has been well schooled in the dehumanization of Black people.

Audre Lorde had a special message to Black Americans. She said that "the invasion of Grenada served as a naked warning to 30 million [Black] Americans: we did it down there, we will not hesi- tate to do it to you. [If the facts of racism and the struggle of Black and other people of color] can be passed over as unremarkable in our environment, then why not the rape and annexation of tiny, Black Grenada.

She also said, "for those of us who are Black, being Black does not absolve us. We have a direct, immediate responsi- bility for this. I keep thinking about this every time I see Jesse Jackson and Robert Goodman. I keep looking at him and thinking he was not there on a mission of mercy. He was there planning to bomb and kill Syrians. What does that How are we responsible for it? At what point can we continue as Black people to expect the Third World to excuse us because of our Blackness?

mean?

"Ask yourselves what kind of responsi- bility you have for where you sitting and what is done in your name.

are

"When you read Zami, remember: it is not just a fantasy about people who do not touch your lives.

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Audre Lorde's discussion of Grenada will be printed in an upcoming issue of the Black Scholar and in her newest book, Sister Outsider. You can hear her Feb- ruary presentation on radio station KPFA on 94 FM, Berkeley, CA in May (see sta- tion guide for date). Audre stressed that all of her information came out of regular newspapers and magazines.

A Tribute

To You

(the least we can do in return for the seconds that have unfolded into years of your lives)

FROM YOUR CHILDREN

who without you

...even our fathers would cease to exist

you are

the centre of our universe

our carriages

the givers of our births

in many cases our sole providers

you are our bridges connecting our pasts to our futures

our rulers teachers and sometimes friends

guides

the receivers not only of our joys but of our rages

and ever too often you have been shunned by us

you've been the victims in the battles of circumstance

bodies your minds and souls have been subjected to barbarous actions Inwardly taking nothing from nobody you've tolerated the intolerable

yet you continue to stand grounded on your soils

you have found moments in time

to divert their pre-meditated plan targeted at our destinies

your powers have stricken fear into the hearts of the greedy and narrow minded

This annual commemoration set aside

does not equal your accomplishments let alone your sacrifices

you are womyn lovers sisters daughters cousins aunts and grandmothers

you are the womyn who nuture

motherhood

Cara Vaughn is an easterner, slowly recovering from culture shock after moving to Oakland, CA. She writes, cooks, plays piano, and spreads information for a living.

Suasuarana 1984

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