Black Women's Writing Revisited

6      Focussing on gender solidarity was particularly important for marketing strategies of Lorde's works in Germany. Most of her writings were published by Orlanda (formerly sub rosa) Women's Press and primarily addressed a female audience. The publishing house not only perpetuated Lorde's focus on women and particularly Black women but also her activism. The first edition of Auf Leben und Tod: Krebstagebuch, the German version of Lorde's Cancer Journals, includes a contribution by a German woman who provides her personal record of dealing with breast cancer. Waltraut Ruf's essay supports the impression that Lorde's book is relevant for every woman regardless of nationality, sexuality, or ethnicity and she explicitly states that Lorde has found the words which speak to every woman (103). Also, the German edition includes a list of self-help and support groups and its readers are encouraged to contact the publishing house with the affirmation that every letter will be answered. Even those books by Lorde which have been taken up by a larger German publishing house (Fischer) have been marketed almost exclusively as women's literature. In Fischer's edition of Zami: A New Spelling of My Name the original subtitle has been substituted by Ein Leben unter Frauen ("A Life among Women"), emphasizing the aspect of women's communities over the personal account of Lorde. Moreover, the blurb asserts that "Audre Lordes Autobiographie ist ein kämpferisches Zeugnis für die Sache der Frauen" ("Audre Lorde's autobiography is a warrior testimony for women's cause"). Additionally, with her Cancer Journals, Lorde opened up a forum for discussing breast cancer, a topic which had been completely silenced before. Schultz claims in her preface to the German edition that a book like the Cancer Journals, which explicitly and openly deals with breast cancer, did not exist before in Germany. (2000: 5) Ruf confirms this notion by writing that the issue of cancer has generally been off-limits and continues to be silenced (104).

7      Marion Kraft expresses the hope that Blacks, white women, and men would use Lorde's oeuvre to better understand themselves and their life conditions as well as the power of language, but in Germany, Lorde's works mainly circulated within feminist and Black discourses (1994: 13).[9]Lorde herself describes one of her German audiences at a reading in Dresden as consisting mainly of "white women, and young Afro-German men and women" (1991: 70) and Felicitas Hoppe in her much disputed article about Lorde's commemoration in Berlin emphasizes the fact that, in the end, even one man showed up (15). She was most important where her work and activism could flow along lines of gender as well as black solidarity: especially putting racism on the feminist agenda was crucial for Afro-German women and their development of self-definitions, collective and individual identities, and communities as well as their position within and relation to feminist discourses. Together with Afro-German women, Lorde coined the term Afro-German in analogy to Afro-American. This moment was decisive, since though it "was not the birth of a black German consciousness," it "nevertheless symbolises the central role that US activism had for Afro-Germans" (El-Tayeb 66). The term was quickly established in different discourses and the editors of Farbe bekennen describe its meaning and their intention of employing it in the following words:

By the term 'Afro-German' we mean all those who wish to refer to themselves as such, regardless of whether they have one or two black parents. Just as with the similar name 'Black Germans,' our intent is not to exclude on the basis of origin or skin color. […] More important, we want to propose 'Afro-German' in opposition to more commonly used names like 'half-breed,' 'mulatto,' or 'colored,' as an attempt to define ourselves instead of being defined by others.[10]This translation is taken from the 1992 English edition of Farbe bekennen which is entitled Showing Our Colors: Afro-German Women Speak Out (see xxii-xxiii). (10)

This paragraph displays that using Black German or Afro-German does not only mean substituting older and rather negatively connoted terms with new ones but also symbolizes the growing agency of Afro-Germans and their claim to self-determination and self-definition. It demonstrates the power of language and breaking silences that Lorde generally propagated. Additionally, it is decisive and certainly suites Lorde's purposes, that it is women who take these important steps towards a conscious Black German identity and community. By speaking out, they empower themselves within the Afro-German community and take the lead towards a new self-understanding.

8      The book Farbe bekennen is particularly "linked to feminism in general and US black feminists in particular" (El-Tayeb 76). Its publication can certainly count as a milestone in Afro-German history. Working on the book for the Afro-German editors meant beginning to build a network, to establish contacts with other Afro-German women, and to discuss their experiences.[11]As Afro-Germans, they share a common experience. Katharina Oguntoye and May Opitz very briefly delineate this experience in the following words: "Our essential commonality is that we are black and have experienced a major part of our socialization and in confrontation with West German society" (1992: xxii). Before, as they state in their preface, these women were largely isolated and used to dealing with their heritage and their identity on their own, without being in touch with other Afro-Germans (9). Its publication extended the development of a network between Afro-German women and also meant a first appearance before the public - drawing attention to a long-ignored part of German history and present as well as the continuing issue of racism. This can also be seen as a first approach towards rewriting German history from the perspective of Black Germans and towards understanding the - at best - marginalized situation of Afro-Germans through historical, theoretical, as well as personal reflections. The project was based in Berlin but, as Fatima El-Tayeb points out, its effects did reach "beyond the Berlin group of black women, influencing the first national meeting of black Germans, which took place in Wiesbaden in 1985" (75). Audre Lorde's contribution to this development is acknowledged by the greeting which she wrote for the volume addressing Afro-German women as part of the African Diaspora and recognizing their important work. However, throughout Farbe bekennen Afro-German women speak for themselves. The multiple effects of the book can be seen on different discursive levels through the introduction of new terms, perspectives, and topics and through new participants (or discoursing subjects), namely Afro-German women entering public discourses. As part of the public debate about Afro-German identity it can also be read as part of a counter-discourse which challenges the dominant assumption that perceives of Afro-Germans as African despite their language and culture. Michelle Wright states: "As many authors in Farbe bekennen complain, too many white Germans are either resistant or incapable of imagining someone who is both Black and German" (2003: 298). The project Farbe bekennen, which was also Wrights first encounter with Afro-German history, had numerous, very practical effects for Afro-Germans. In the mid-1980s, the ISD (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland e.V.) as well as ADEFRA (Schwarze deutsche Frauen/Schwarze Frauen in Deutschland e.V.) were founded. They addressed a larger public through their respective publications afro look and Afrekete and established themselves in Germany. In 1992 several ISD-groups already existed in German cities (today, the ISD-Homepage lists more than ten active groups) and ADEFRA recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.[12]For a more detailed account of the development of Afro-German communities in Germany see Part II in TheBlackBook: Deutschlands Häutungen published by AntiDiskriminierungsBüro Köln and cyberNomads.

9      The editors of Farbe bekennen retrospectively estimate the influence of their project as follows: May Opitz and Katharina Oguntoye point out that German social conditions have changed and Farbe bekennen has contributed to that change, however self-articulation and agency of Afro-Germans continue to be necessary (1992: 10;12) . In fact, Afro-Germans and particularly Afro-German women had become more visible and recognized in German society and Afro-German communities had already been developed. However, racism in its various open and subtle forms has continued and social recognition and integration still constitute major problems. Dagmar Schultz also addresses developments in the white women's movement because as Afro-German women confronted their white 'sisters' and dialogues across racial boundaries had been made possible, racism and anti-Semitism appeared on the feminist agenda (14). She additionally mentions the importance of Audre Lorde and her lectures and readings which white women could attend and thereby had the chance to discuss with the African-American author (14), who was and is perceived by the Afro-German communities as "one of their most inspiring leaders and organizers" (Wright 2004: 196). Lorde's input was definitely vital for the Afro-German movement and especially the development of Afro-German women's communities; however, Afro-German women's own initiative and the general zeitgeist were equally important factors.[13]For example, in 1984, the year Lorde first visited Germany, Gisela Fremgen already published her book …und wenn du dazu noch schwarz bist: Berichte schwarzer Frauen in der Bundesrepublik. And even earlier, in 1973, Karin Thimm and Du Rell Echols had published Schwarze in Deutschland: Protokolle. This testifies to the fact that Lorde's influence met with an already emerging Black consciousness and was made possible largely by the surrounding conditions. Ekpenyong Ani states in her sketch of the development of ADEFRA that many women followed Audre Lorde's call in Farbe bekennen and began to build up communities and networks of which ADEFRA was one of its first highly visible effects (145). In my opinion, her statement aptly describes Lorde's role for this movement: Her call reached Germany at a time when Black consciousness and feminist concerns were emerging and made it possible for her voice to be heard and to resonate with such far-reaching effects. And, in fact, feminist issues were very important for the Afro-German movement at that time. As El-Tayeb writes:

Lorde's reaching out to a black community that most African Americans assumed to be non-existent is indicative of the important role of women and feminist issues in the first decade of Afro-German activism. (66)

Audre Lorde's activism as well as the project Farbe bekennen have developed a continuing legacy in German and maybe even European discourses about ethnicity, race, and gender. For example, TheBlackBook, which assembles texts and essays dealing with the Afro-German past and present historically, theoretically, and practically, was published in 2004 and its editors explicitly locate it in the tradition of publications like Farbe bekennen (9). Also, Stefanie Kron claims that the book was her first encounter with Afro-German history and literature and influenced her view on and occupation with this topic, which resulted in the publication of her study on Afro-German women's writing (9). Her book as well as Jennifer Michels' essay "The Impact of Audre Lorde's Politics and Poetics on Afro-German Women Writers" point out that Afro-German women writers constitute a community which was especially influenced by Lorde's writings and activism. As Michels explains, Lorde "inspired May Ayim, Helga Emde, Ika Hügel-Marshall, and others to write" and her poetics "shaped the content and form chosen by Afro-German writers" (21; 30).

10      Lorde's impact on Afro-Germans and Afro-German women in particular has to be viewed against the background of her outspoken postulation of black and gender solidarity as well as her acknowledgment of "these women as part of a worldwide black Diaspora" (El-Tayeb 74). Marion Kraft even claims that Lorde's poetical oeuvre at large draws a picture of women of the African Diaspora, their oppression as well as their resistance and that Africa as a cultural center constitutes a major motif within her poems (1994: 12). Lorde's interactions with Afro-Germans have to be viewed within this larger context of the African Diaspora(s). Lorde's vision of global sisterhood and black solidarity moves beyond national and nationalistic paradigms. Her relationship with Afro-German women constitutes one element of her work and activism and its circulation within the realm of the "black Atlantic," which, due to Germany's colonial past and its long-lasting repression of this history and continuing problems with racism, met with certain particular national and cultural circumstances but also exceeded them. In Paul Gilroy's words, "intermediate concepts" like the "idea of the diaspora" are important because "they break the dogmatic focus on discrete national dynamics which has characterised so much modern Euro-American cultural thought" (6). Lorde refers to her "Black German sisters" and thus acknowledges their nationality as a part of their identity and specificity within the African Diaspora. In turn, she also emphasizes their characteristics which allow for solidarity beyond national and cultural differences, namely gender and race/ethnicity. Her reaching out to and interacting with Black communities outside the United States also underlines that "the black Diaspora experience is not identical with the black presence in the Americas" and has to be viewed not only within the boundaries of one nation but also within at least the culture of the Black Atlantic (El-Tayeb 76). As Gilroy states, "[s]triving to be both European and black requires some specific forms of double consciousness" (1). This statement reflects one aspect of Lorde's implicit understanding of the African Diaspora: The term double consciousness has been coined by W.E.B. Du Bois to describe the problematic of being African-American but can equally be applied to Afro-Europeans without taking a homogenizing stand and assuming that their experiences necessarily resemble those of African-Americans.