Questions for Crises: The Audre Lorde Questionnaire

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KierC
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Questions for Crises: The Audre Lorde Questionnaire

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I’ve been doing a lot of reading on how to cope with the pain I experience in my body as a result of experiencing patriarchal trauma, and in doing so I’m always led, almost cosmically, to the words of Audre Lorde. Specifically, Audre Lorde delivered a really powerful speech called “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action,” which contains what is colloquially referred to as The Audre Lorde Questionnaire, or The Questionnaire to One’s Self. This set of questions really helps guide me towards figuring out “What does healing look like for me? What do I need?”, and I wanted to share the questionnaire here in the hopes that it might help someone else structure their healing journey too!

Here’s the questionnaire as it appears in “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” (from page 41):

“What are the words you do not yet have?

“What do you need to say?

What are the tyrannies you swallow day-by-day and attempt to make your own?”

https://electricliterature.com/wp-cont ... action.pdf

I’d also like to add another question from her automythography Zami:

“To whom do I owe the symbols of my survival?” (Or, what ARE the symbols of your survival?)

These questions can be taken in many different ways, they don’t have to be taken literally! At least for me, I think some of the healing comes in just asking the question to one’s self. Thinking about what my symbols of survival are actually led me to give hugs to my community (and my cat lol) because I realized how much they help me thrive.

What do these questions mean to you? Are there any questions you’d add here?
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