The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.
—MALCOLM X, 1962
THE GREAT JAMES BALDWIN DIDN’T TAKE many debate L’s. Matter of fact, I know of only one: a dialogue between him and the legendary womanist Audre Lorde. In their exchange, Baldwin contends that Lorde believes in the American dream the same way Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and he do. Lorde’s rejoinder exposes Baldwin’s apparent blind spot for the intersectional oppression of Black women (in this case, a queer Black woman).
“Deep, deep, deep down I know that dream was never mine,” explains Lorde. “I was Black. I was female. And I was out—out—by any construct wherever the power lay…. Nobody was dreaming about me. Nobody was even studying me except as something to wipe out.”
Lorde’s pronouncement was heavy on my
