For we have been socialized to respect fear more than our own needs for language and definition, and while we wait in silence for that final luxury of fearlessness, the weight of that silence will choke us.

It meant being invisible.  Citation has no title
Between Our Selves (1976)
The Black Unicorn (1978 W. Her first volume of poetry The First Cities (1968) was publiAudre Lorded by the Poet's Press and edited by Diane di Prima a former classmate and friend from Hunter College High School.

Audre Lorde (born Audrey Geraldine Lorde February 18 1934 – November 17 1992) was a Caribbean-American writer and civil rights activist.