EastSide Arts Alliance, Bay Area Lesbian Archives, & Artist as First Responder presents…
Revisiting Black Lesbian Legacies in conversation with Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Join us for an engaging and thought-provoking panel discussion, "Revisiting Black Lesbian Legacies in Conversation with Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs", as we explore the expansive vision of survival through the work of Audre Lorde. Inspired by Gumbs' book Survival Is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde (Macmillan, 2024), this conversation will delve deep into Lorde’s profound ecological understanding of survival, seeing it not just as resilience against oppression but as a practice that connects us to the earth and to each other.
The panel will also examine Lorde’s transformative quote:
"While Black sisters don't like to hear this, I would have to say that all Black women are lesbians because we were raised in the remnants of a basically matriarchal society no matter how oppressed we may have been by patriarchy. We're all dykes, including our mommas. Let's really start getting past the shibboleths and taboos. They don't really matter. Being able to recognize that the function of poetry or any art is to ennoble and empower us in a way that's not separate from our living, that belief is African in origin."
– Audre Lorde
Through this quote and Gumbs' reflections, we will explore how art, survival, and identity intersect to challenge conventional labels and binaries while empowering us to envision new paths of liberation.
Doors Open - 6:00 PM
Check-in and light refreshments available.
Panel Discussion & Q&A - 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Dive into a rich conversation led by our distinguished panelists, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Networking & Conversation: 8:00PM – 8:30 PM
Connect with fellow attendees and the panelists in an informal networking session.
(event will be filmed)
Bandung Books will be selling copies of
Survival is a Promise: The Eternal Life of Audre Lorde by Alexis Pauline Gumbs
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This event is apart of Sister Hold On: Reclaiming Third World Lesbian Imaginaries, Organized by Bay Area Lesbian Archives
Dates: September 19 - December 14, 2024
In partnership with Bay Area Lesbian Archives, EastSide Arts Alliance presents Sister Hold On: Reclaiming Third World Lesbian Imaginaries, an exhibition that celebrates the collective power of third world lesbians and the intersectional struggles they championed in creating a collective future in the Bay Area.
Bringing together past, present and future, this exhibition taps into Third World Lesbian imaginaries to build a space of gathering and of collective future-building, where love, struggle and resilience coexist.
Sister Hold On will showcase archival materials from the Bay Area Lesbian Archive and new work from artists Shreya Shankar and Malaya Tuyay.
Bay Area Lesbian Archives was founded by artist and activist Lenn Keller in 2014. This exhibition celebrates BALA’s 10 year anniversary.