February 18, 1934 Audre Geraldine Lorde, writer, poet, and activist, was born in New York City.

Legally blind, Lorde wrote her first poem when she was in the eighth grade. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in library science from Hunter College in 1959 and her Master of Library Science degree from Columbia University in 1964.

Lorde’s first volume of poetry, “The First Cities,” was published in 1968. Other volumes include “Cables to Rage” (1970), “Between Ourselves” (1976), and “The Cancer Journals” (1980). In 1980, Lorde co-founded Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, the first publisher for women of color in the United States. Lorde was the state poet of New York from 1991 to 1992. Lorde died November 17, 1992 and was in her words “black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.”