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Mary T., July 7, 1978 (Tape 1)
Side A: Mary briefly describes her childhood and family dynamics. Mary and the interviewer then discuss the first time Mary recognized being different and her thoughts on desiring women at a young age, yet not knowing about lesbianism as a concept or about the lesbian community. Mary then recalls the first time she encountered the word "lesbian" when she joined the U.S. Air Force and describes her experiences with women while in the service. Mary talks about being a lesbian in the military, the investigation into her conduct, and her dishonorable discharge. After Mary got another job, she started going to a bar in Buffalo, N.Y., and she talks about the other lesbians she met there. Mary then discovered other bars and talks about the scene as well as the role-playing of butch and femme.
Constant whirring noise that stops about 10 minutes into the recording.
Side B: Mary continues the discussion on butch and femme role-playing. She elaborates on fights, holding down jobs, and being "out." She also explains the relationships lesbians had with gay men in Buffalo, N.Y., and the bar scene dynamics of mixed, gay, or lesbian bars. Mary and the interviewer discuss gay activism and the difficulties of being involved in activism at that time. Mary also describes outings where there was a risk of being visible as a group, such as going on picnics or renting cottages. She elaborates on her experience with social dynamics like cliques and having heterosexual friends within the lesbian and gay community. Mary then expands upon the nature of her relationships with women as well as with black lesbians - racial prejudice and relationships are discussed.
Constant whirring noise that stops about 5 minutes into the recording. -
"Poetry" radio program on WBAI hosted by Susan Howe, undated
Audre Lorde appears on Susan Howe's WBAI radio program "Poetry." She reads "Black Studies," "To My Daughter The Junkie On The Train," "To The Girl Who Lives In A Tree," "Song For A Thin Sister," "Oya," and "The Brown Menace" from her book New York Head Shop and Museum. On Side B, she reads newer poems including, "Solstice," "Dahomey," "Nobody Wants To Die On The Way," "School Note," and "Power." -
Astraea Benefit, "Conversation with Poems," 1981 (Tape 2 of 2)
Benefit for the Astraea Foundation, "Conversation with Poems." Poetry reading and conversation with Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich; includes speech, poetry, and remarks. -
Astraea Benefit, "Conversation with Poems," 1981 (Tape 1 of 2)
Benefit for the Astraea Foundation, "Conversation with Poems." Introduced by unnamed speaker. Poetry reading and conversation with Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich; includes speech, poetry, and remarks. -
The Personal or the Political - I / Conference on Feminist Theory, September 29, 1979
In addition to Audre Lorde, Linda Gordon, Manuela Prairie, Jessica Benjamin, Bonnie Johnston, Camille Bristow, and Susan McHenry participated in the panel. The recording includes a question and answer session between panelists and audience members. The topics discussed include racism, feminism, class oppression, individualism, sexuality, community, and sisterhood. -
March on Washington / Pacifica Program Service, 1979 (Tape 3 of 4)
March on Washington on October 14, 1979, which dealt with the civil rights of the gay and lesbian community. Participants included Audre Lorde (who can be heard on side A about 80% through), Allen Ginsberg, Peter Orlovsky, Ted Weiss, Gotham, Tom Robinson, Howard Wallace, Kate Millet, and Flo Kennedy. Key topics included civil and human rights, the labor movement, racism, sexism, and love. Short technical glitches occur on Side A. -
Lou and Jane, November 8, 1981 (Tape 4)
Lou and Jane discuss what life is like as an interracial lesbian couple. They discuss how white "studs" feel threatened by black "studs", feeling they will steal their women. Alcoholism is briefly discussed. They also discuss having to tell lies to their family to prevent them from knowing about their sexuality.
On Side B- Jane begins with her experience as Fem lesbian, and her difficulty with what that means to her. She talks about her difficulty with coming "out", and then is interrupted by one of their children.
Lou discusses her relationship with her Fem partner (Jane), as someone who self-identifies as a Butch. She discusses her choices in life, and her commitment to her relationship, her partner, and her family. She also talks about her disillusionment with the future, and her lack of hope for change. Lou references Jane's feelings, and her hope for Jane to recognize what it means to be a Fem.
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Barbara Grier, Tape 5 of 7, November 27, 1987
The majority of this video depicts Barbara and her partner, Donna McBride, going through photo albums and images of Barbara’s childhood, her family, and then her later years with Donna. Some topics that come up include Helen Bennett, Barbara’s relationship before Donna, and Naiad Press. The last 30 minutes or so of the video focus on Barbara as she discusses The Ladder and the various women who contributed to it and how publications helped shape social change for the gay and lesbian movement. -
Neighborhood Voices: Audre Lorde Interview (Tape 1)
Old Neighborhood Voices interviews Audre Lorde about living as a young Black lesbian in the Lower East Side (now referred to as the East Village). She discusses the interconnectedness of the lesbian communities in the neighborhood, the imperfect support systems they offered each other when there were no other options, and the pressures of living on the edge of society. Lorde also discusses the racism that was rampant in the gay community in the Village, and how the few black lesbians within these communities were met with apathy when discussing political matters. She also discusses the effects of McCarthyism in the 1950s on her lesbian communities, as well as how she gained political consciousness growing up with the Brown v. Board of Education case, as well as by living near the Women’s House of Detention in the Lower East Side and seeing Black incarcerated women for the first time. -
Neighborhood Voices: Audre Lorde Interview (Tape 2)
In the second part of the Old Neighborhood Voices interview with Audre Lorde, she talks about living around the Village in the 1950s - from the migrators who came into the gay bars just for the weekend, to the imagined mythos of the Village as a place for anyone outside of white, middle-class America, and to the conflicts between the older residents and the newcomers to the area. Lorde touches on what her apartments were like and the rent situation of the area, as well as scrouging together food to share with her communities as a poor person. Then, Lorde discusses the multiple lives lesbians of the time had to live and the incredible gift that integrating every aspect of herself was as she got older. She touches on the Stonewall Riot, as well as the way she had to stop arbitrarily dividing aspects of herself to make others more comfortable. -
Neighborhood Voices: Audre Lorde Interview (Tape 3)
In the third part of the interview, Audre Lorde discusses the lure of the Village for gay people, black people, and others who wished for an egalitarian environment, and how sometimes they would ignore the homophobia and racism they faced in the neighborhood to hold onto this dream. Also, she discussed in more depth what she thought about the Stonewall riot, and how it felt tied to the black revolutionary movement of the time. Furthermore, she discusses at length the different gay bars she would frequent, their ties to the mafia, and the different women that would frequent them. -
Neighborhood Voices: Audre Lorde Interview (Tape 4)
In the final part of the Old Neighborhood Voices interview with Audre Lorde, she wraps up the talk with a discussion on the drama of lesbian life in her youth. She talks about the difficulties and joys of living in community with lesbians in the 1950s and how being on the edge of society gives you a different worldview. She stresses how everyone should view themselves as an outsider so they don't lose perspective on the true sense of power structures at play in the world. -
Class in the Women's Movement
This episode is a Production of Radio Free Women in Washington DC, affiliated with the Feminist Radio Network. The hosts cover issues of class wtihin the Women’s Movement, often from personal experience as lower or working class women. It includes discussions on the differences between the working class, poor working class, and lower class, the overlap between race and class, and the lack of culture within middle class spaces. Furthermore, they cover some common experiences of working and lower class women within the Women’s Movement, from discriminatory treatment from the middle class women in the movement and the lack of solidarity and support from middle class women to those with material needs. -
Margaret Sloan
Sloan is the President of the National Black Feminist Organization. She discussed NBFO’s mission to provide an organization for black feminists who felt the need to fight both sexism and racism at the same time. She discussed the formation of the organization and the eastern conference on black feminism. -
Robin Morgan
Robin Morgan talks about the creation of the New York Radical Women group in 1967 (20-25 women), the male Left, working on the Atlantic city pageant demonstration 1968, and publishing the "Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement" in 1970. She then reads a poem and uses poetry as a political tool, as well as asserts that the Women's Movement is fostering relations between different strata of US society. Morgan advocates for women to take control legally, health-wise, and become an international force. She states that rape and pornography affect all women and she depicts women as the largest and longest subjugated people. The Women's Movement will continue to prosper. -
Kathy Bonk and Whitney Adams, Co-Coordinators of N.O.W. Fair (August 24, 1974)
Kathy Bonk and Whitney Adams from the National Organization for Women discuss the upcoming N.O.W. Fair on Radio Free Women. The fair will feature feminist activism, panels, political discussions, and interviews. Bonk and Adams go on to talk about other aspects of feminist political activism such as income inequality and racial discrimination. -
The Heat Is On: Miss Saigon
Interviews and speeches from the demonstration at the Broadway opening of Miss Saigon organized by a coalition called "The Heat Is On 'Miss Saigon': Coaltion to End Racism and Sexism on Broadway".