I stand here as a black lesbian feminist, having been invited to comment within the only panel at this conference where the input of black feminists and lesbians is represented. What this says about the vision of this conference is sad, in a country where racism, sexism and homophobia are inseparable. . . .

From my membership in all of these groups I have learned that oppression and the intolerance of difference come in all shapes and sizes and colors and sexualities; and that among those of us who share the goals of liberation and a workable future for our children, there can be no hierarchies of oppression.

Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change, a bridge across our fears of what has never been before.

I am very, very happy for Alice Walker.

Change is the immediate responsibility of each of us, wherever and however we are standing, in whatever arena we choose.

Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless.

Guilt and defensiveness are bricks in a wall against which we all flounder; they serve none of our futures.