Abstract

This research intends to elaborate and analyze women’s voices in selected poems by Audre Lorde. To systematically investigate the poems, the researchers organized the theoretical framework by addressing theory and approach. Theoretical frameworks used by the researchers are the expressive approach by M.H Abrams and support by the Black Feminist Concept by Patricia Hill Collins. Moreover, this research applied the qualitative method to gain a deep understanding of the object of research and to answer and solve research problems. The result of the research shows that the first poem, "A Litany for Survival" is a clarion call for the African American community against their common battle of fear. However, speaking up becomes their strategy of resistance in the end. Meanwhile, the second poem “A Woman Speaks”, sends a powerful message about the lives of black women, whose voices are frequently ignored. Even though Black women face discrimination, they simply become more powerful which makes them more secure in their uniqueness. Pain and sorrow, on the other hand, train black women to be strong. The willingness to expose black women's identities as part of a campaign to speak up and unite with all black women who are discriminated against to gain more power and have their rights properly enforced.

Keywords: black women, black feminism, expressive approach, figurative language, women’s voices.