Today in Black History Month, we have two very special birthdays to celebrate: Toni Morrison and Audre Lorde.

Audre Lorde was a black writer, feminist, womanist, librarian, teacher, and civil rights activist, who described herself as a “lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.” Her poems and prose largely dealt with issues related to civil rights, feminism, and the exploration of black female identity. Jerome Brooks says in Black Women Writers (1950-1980): A Critical Evaluation, “Lorde’s poetry of anger is perhaps her best-known work.” Read more about this amazing human in this post from last year’s celebration.

Toni Morrison is among the most acclaimed African American authors in U.S. history. In 1993, she became the first African American woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. She also received a 1988 Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012. Read more about this amazing human in this post from last year’s celebration.

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Don’t forget the events being hosted on campus, (see the full schedule here), and you can find all our Black History Month posts (including last year’s) here: http://english.colostate.edu/tag/black-history-month/