Zami Book Club #2 (CH 12-22) by Ash Vasquez

Chapter 12 Summary

2025-03-16 21:54:16 UTC

In Chapter 12, Lorde reflects on her high school years with her close-knit group of friends, "the Branded," a rebellious sisterhood that bonded over poetry, boys, and politics rather than race. While she didn’t yet have a word for racism, she felt different from others, not because she was Black, but because she was uniquely herself. Though her home life was strained, with her mother disapproving of her growing autonomy, Lorde found solace and understanding among her friends. Her attempt to confide in a guidance counselor backfired when the counselor shared her feelings with her mother, deepening the tension at home.

Chapter 13 Summary

2025-03-16 22:03:00 UTC

In Chapter 13, Lorde befriends Gennie, a new Black student at Hunter High School, and the two quickly become close, exploring the city together and forming a deep bond. Lorde was envious of Gennie’s relationship with her mother, as the two of them could talk about anything and were very close. Gennie's father comes back into the picture, puts a strain on her family dynamics. Gennie attempts suicide but is saved. Their friendship becomes suffers as Gennie moves in with her estranged father, and Lorde begins to notice Gennie’s increasing emotional distance. Eventually, after a tense encounter with Lorde’s family, Gennie decides to stay with another friend, Jean. Lorde’s mother grows concerned about Gennie’s influence, warning Lorde to distance herself.

Chapter 14 Summary

2025-03-16 22:21:56 UTC

In Chapter 14, Louisa (Gennie's mom) calls to say Gennie has been found on the steps of the 110th Community Center after swallowing rat poison. She isn’t expected to survive. Lorde visits her in the hospital, where Gennie weakly acknowledges her but refuses to explain why she did it. Gennie dies on Monday. Lorde’s mother dismisses her grief, warning her about bad influences. When Louisa later asks if she knows why Gennie did it, Lorde says no. A newspaper reports the suicide, noting there is no apparent reason since she isn’t pregnant

Chapter 15 Summary

2025-03-16 22:39:37 UTC

In chapter 15, two weeks after graduating high school, Lorde moves out, frustrated with her father’s cruelty and a fight with Helen. She briefly dates Peter, but their relationship and her job both end, leaving her struggling financially. When she discovers she’s pregnant, she arranges an abortion through a trusted contact. The procedure is painful but successful, and she feels no regret—only relief and a sense of resilience. Despite post-abortion sickness, a kind woman, Miz Lewis, helps her get home. Recovering, Lorde reflects on her independence as Miz Lewis gently asks when she’ll return to her mother.

Chapter 16 Summary

2025-03-16 22:57:22 UTC

In chapter 16, Lorde moved into her first real apartment on Spring Street, embracing independence but still feeling the effects of her abortion. Friends visited, bringing warmth and helping her decorate. She attended classes and Harlem Writers Guild meetings while avoiding her grimy kitchen until the Branded cleaned it in the summer. Despite the oppressive heat, she found solace in writing, though she never reread her despairing words, submitting only older poems to the Guild.

Chapter 17 Summary

2025-03-16 23:12:05 UTC

In chapter 17, Lorde fails German and trigonometry, blaming herself rather than the time spent caring for the Branded girls. She feels bored with Hunter College and sexually frustrated, longing for an affair with a woman but unsure about sex. She has brief interactions with Marie, who eventually runs away and marries, and Bobbi, who flees to California. The FBI comes looking for both. Amidst the height of McCarthyism, Lorde and her friends embrace their rebellious identities. After learning about job opportunities in Stamford, Lorde leaves New York, gets a job at a ribbon factory, and rents a small room. Though the work is monotonous and she is let go after three weeks, she plans to save for a trip to Mexico. During this time, Lorde begins writing again and speaking her thoughts aloud to Gennie.

Summary

vasqu01 — 2025-03-17 14:57:03 UTC

After being let go from her ribbon factory job, Lorde seeks out for a position as a medical receptionist. The woman at the community center, Mrs. Kelly, dismisses Lorde and sends her to apply for an "unskilled" job at the factories across town.

Lorde is hired at Keystone Electronics operating an x-ray machine to process quartz crystals (used in radio/radar machinery) for the government
Retrospectively, Lorde describes how people worked around hazards and took short cuts that were cancer-causing. She notes how the company did not fire workers (majority who were Black/Puerto Rican) after three weeks, allowing them to unionize.
Lorde develops a frienship with her coworker, an older divorced woman named Virginia (aka Ginger), and is introduced to her chaotic home life
- They develop a romantic/sexual relationship

Summary

vasqu01 — 2025-03-17 15:27:45 UTC

Lorde suffers a mild concussion at work
Her father is hospitalized due to a stroke-- Lorde visits NY to see him after being no-contact with her family for over a year. He eventually passes away, but she is not able to grieve due to feeling out of place back home "I fought hard to remind myself that I was now a stranger in this house," (p.143)
Lorde sees her mother in a different light now that she has lost her 'equal', "I saw my mother's pain, and her blindness, and her strength, and for the first time I began to see her as seperate from me, and I began to feel free of her," (p.143)
Tensions rise between Lorde and her coworkers when she returns to work at a new position in the factory. Lorde becomes desperate to build her savings through bonuses to escape her job, she flushes crystals down the toilet during her bathroom breaks to make it seem as though she is processing more batches of crystals than she really is. Her coworkers Ada and Rose conspire to get Lorde fired-- a relationship blooms between Ada and Ginger. Lorde moves out of Ginger's home.

Summary

vasqu01 — 2025-03-17 20:43:37 UTC

Lorde's desire to visit Mexico grows insatiable
Anti-Communist political climate; unrest due to Rosenberg trial.
President Eisenhower signs an executive order to end racial segregation of public spaces
"Are you or have you ever been a member of a homosexual relationship?" (p.148)
The Rosenbergs were executed June 19, 1953-- Lorde feels defeated and disillusioned
Rekindling friendship with Bea, a girl Lorde met while visitng a firend at Bennington College the year before. Having experienced recent heartbreaks, the two begin a long-distance relationship. However, things go south as Lorde becomes frustrated with Bea's unresponsivess and apathy-- their lack of compatibility becomes glaringly obvious.
Lorde buys her ticket to Mexico without Bea-- they break up and Bea makes a scene.

Summary

vasqu01 — 2025-03-17 22:18:58 UTC

Life in Mexico City gives Lorde a sense of peace/relief-- she meets other American "expats" (among them, women who were politically exiled) and moves to Cuernavaca, a small town on the city outskirts. The women speculated over each other's sexualities, "These women pretended to be straight in a way they never would have pretended to be conservative. Their political courage was far greater than their sexual openness," (p.160)

Summary

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 12:16:18 UTC

Eudora is introduced: A lesbian woman in her late 40s; a journalist and reporter. She lost her job in the States due to covering the Scottsboro case and relocated to work for a Mexican paper
Eudora and Lorde develop a fling/relationship; the other American women warn Lorde of Eudora's instability/alcoholism. After Lorde returns from her trip to Guatemala, she discovers that Eudora has moved away, leaving no contact information behind.
Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregating schools

Lorde describes her relationship with Ginger as “play-acting” due to the “denial” of their importance to each other. Although they tried to keep their intimacy a secret, Ginger’s mother knows more than she leads on, ““Friends are nice, but marriage is marriage,”” (p.142).

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 12:18:29 UTC

What do you make of the ambiguity between acceptance/non-acceptance? Between friends/lovers?

The dynamic between Lorde and her family changed drastically, yet Lorde did not spend too much time dwelling on these details.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 12:19:01 UTC

What do you think of the omission of this information/ How can this relate to the concept of “biomythography”?

In the beginning of Zami, Lorde emphasized how her parents’ mutual respect (especially her mother’s “self-possession”; control/confidence), played an important role in her understanding of gender.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 18:59:27 UTC

How do you perceive the changing relationship between Lorde and her mother?
Why would Lorde describe feeling “free” from her mother?

Many activists risked their livelihoods and safety to stand up against an oppressive administration, yet they maintained a bipartisan agreement over queerness being, “a reason for suspicion and shunning,” (p.149).

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:00:00 UTC

Considering Crenshaw’s theory of intersectionality– what were the implications of Lorde’s identity development as she navigated these political movements/spaces?

Lorde mentions the term self-preservation (p.153) for the first time, a recurring theme in her other works.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:00:13 UTC

In the face of growing authoritarianism, what do you think self-preservation means?
Do you believe that the practice of self-preservation can be applied to your life?

After many ambiguous “friendships” with the women in Lorde’s life, Eudora was the first person to claim the label of “lesbian”.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:00:34 UTC

In what ways could this label be liberating? Confining? Are labels necessary/important?

In class, we discussed how queer identity salience and disclosure/self-acceptance was positively impacted by having LGBTQ+ mentors and engaging in QPOC social circles/advocacy.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:01:08 UTC

Although most of the women in Cuernavaca were not openly queer, how do you perceive the role of community (or ‘sisterhood’) as Lorde adapts to life in a new country?
How did Lorde's connections with other women evolve from Lorde’s friendships in high school?

At the end of the chapter, Lorde describes feeling as though she has entered a new stage in her life, “I felt myself pass beyond childhood, a woman connecting with other women in an intricate, complex, and ever-widening network of exchanging strengths,” (p.175).

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:12:06 UTC

Can you make any connections between the identity development models we discussed in class and Lorde's growth as a person/acceptance of her queer identity?
Any thoughts for the future chapters?

In Chapter 12 of Zami, Lorde details several times that she has been told, 'Remember to be sisters in the presence of strangers.'

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:26:57 UTC

What do you think this expression means?
How does this quote connect to the broader themes of identity, solidarity, and the importance of community in Lorde's life and work?"

In Chapter 13, Gennie reveals her deep emotional turmoil, culminating in her suicide attempt after feeling torn between her mother, Louisa, and her estranged father.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:27:23 UTC

What does Gennie’s journey reveal about the ways mental health is handled—or ignored—within close relationships and families?

In Chapter 13, Lorde’s political awareness begins to grow as she reflects on the social and political changes happening around her.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:27:39 UTC

Have you ever experienced a similar moment in your own life, and how did it impact your view of yourself and others?

In Chapter 14, Lorde’s mother dismisses her grief over Gennie’s death, warning her about bad influences rather than offering emotional support. This is a moment that gets referenced later on.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:28:02 UTC

What is it about this moment that makes it so impactful for Lorde?

In Chapter 15, Lorde undergoes an illegal abortion, facing fear, physical pain, and financial strain but ultimately feeling relief and agency over her body. With Roe v. Wade overturned, abortion access in the U.S. has once again become restricted for many.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:28:29 UTC

How do Lorde’s experiences reflect the struggles people face today in seeking reproductive healthcare
What has changed in terms of access, stigma, and support?

In chapter 16, Lorde finds solace in her writing.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:28:57 UTC

How does Audre Lorde use writing as a tool to process her emotions and cope with the challenges she faces?

In chapter 17, Lorde leaves New York to go to Stamford for better employment opportunities.

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:29:16 UTC

In what ways does Lorde’s decision represent her desire to escape and redefine her life?

Identity Salience: The prominence of a particular identity in a specific situation

vasqu01 — 2025-03-18 19:35:07 UTC