--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am Black because I come from the…" description: "\"I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.\" — Audre Lorde" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg" --- # I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take… ![“I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.” quote by Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg) > “I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.” [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Affirms Black identity as rooted in deep, natural strength, urging recognition of inherent worth. **In simple terms:** Black identity is powerful and natural. Key Takeaway Embrace and celebrate your heritage. Themes identity heritage empowerment Mood proud defiant Type poetic motivational When to use this quote - activism - education - artistic expression - community organizing Key Concepts intersectionality self‑love Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging your roots empower you? - What obstacles hinder Black visibility? A Different Perspective Societal prejudice can obscure self‑recognition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black Come](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-come-1095344/) [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jewel/) [Jewel Open](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jewel-open-337583/) [Jewels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jewels/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Open Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-light-324738/) [Word Jewel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/word-jewel-1095345/) ## Related quotes > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“Love is a word, another kind of open. As the diamond comes into a knot of flame I am Black because I come from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-as-the-diamond-comes-into-a-knot/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Honesty of thought and speech and written word is a jewel, and they who curb prejudice and seek honorably to know and speak the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-galsworthy/honesty-of-thought-and-speech-and-written-word-is-a-jewel-and-they/) [John Galsworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-galsworthy/) > [Qigong is a jewel that has many facets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-cohen/qigong-is-a-jewel-that-has-many-facets/) [Ken Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-cohen/) > [Emeth came walking forward into the open strip of grass between the bonfire and the Stable. His eyes were shining, his face was solemn,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/emeth-came-walking-forward-into-the-open-strip-of-grass-between-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The eye is the jewel of the body.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-eye-is-the-jewel-of-the-body/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Your body is a jewel box…the jewel is your soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kay-boyle/your-body-is-a-jewel-box-the-jewel-is-your-soul/) [Kay Boyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kay-boyle/) > [I’m the Renee Zellweger now. Jewel is the me now. There is no more Jewel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-pompeo/i-m-the-renee-zellweger-now-jewel-is-the-me-now-there-is-no-more-jewel/) [Ellen Pompeo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-pompeo/) > [...This jewel is the wisdom and compassion that it takes to act not on behalf of ourselves but for all beings. This is where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sakyong-mipham/this-jewel-is-the-wisdom-and-compassion-that-it-takes-to-act-not-on/) [Sakyong Mipham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sakyong-mipham/) > [Do you call the jewel blind, because your eye is?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-grillparzer/do-you-call-the-jewel-blind-because-your-eye-is/) [Franz Grillparzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-grillparzer/) > [We're not lowly sinners, we're not worthless beings. We are something jewel-like and beautiful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/we-re-not-lowly-sinners-we-re-not-worthless-beings-we-are-something/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [Simplicity is a jewel rarely found.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/simplicity-is-a-jewel-rarely-found/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Fair play is a jewel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/fair-play-is-a-jewel/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [When you find a waiter who is a waiter and not an actor, writer, musician or poet, you've found a jewel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-soltner/when-you-find-a-waiter-who-is-a-waiter-and-not-an-actor-writer/) [Andre Soltner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-soltner/) > [Regard your good name as the richest jewel yoou can possibly be possessed of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/socrates/regard-your-good-name-as-the-richest-jewel-yoou-can-possibly-be/) [Socrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/socrates/) ## More by Audre Lorde > [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“There is an important difference between openness and naïveté. Not everyone has good intentions nor means me well. I remind myself I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-is-an-important-difference-between-openness-and-na-vet-not/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/what-are-the-words-you-do-not-yet-have-what-do-you-need-to-say-what/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-only-dream-and-vision-it-is-the-skeleton-architecture/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I think that in America there are certain kinds of problems and in Russia there are certain kinds of problems, but basically, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-think-that-in-america-there-are-certain-kinds-of-problems-and-in/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) > [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/) [Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) [Explore all 377 Audre Lorde quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/) ## More Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. I'm shaking my ass because I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miley-cyrus/when-you-go-to-a-club-it-s-not-about-being-black-or-white-or-heavy-or/) [Miley Cyrus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miley-cyrus/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [How can you be more subject; black woman in a white man's world?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/how-can-you-be-more-subject-black-woman-in-a-white-man-s-world/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party...and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [Black music has always known, and not been afraid to acknowledge just how high the stakes of Black thought are. To summarize the final…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-b-wilderson-iii/black-music-has-always-known-and-not-been-afraid-to-acknowledge-just/) [Frank B. Wilderson III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-b-wilderson-iii/) > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. That's how they tried to cut off all my brothers in the rest of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/there-ain-t-no-such-thing-as-black-muslims-that-s-how-they-tried-to/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-biko/we-do-not-want-to-be-reminded-that-it-is-we-the-indigenous-people-who/) [Steven Biko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-biko/) [Browse all 11,655 Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Audre Lorde" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth-s-inside-now-take-my-word/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Black" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth-s-inside-now-take-my-word/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca3/audre-lorde-758_black_i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth_1695259.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am Black because I come from the earth's inside now take my word for jewel in the open light.” — Audre Lorde", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Audre Lorde", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am Black because I come...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth-s-inside-now-take-my-word/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-am-black-because-i-come-from-the-earth-s-inside-now-take-my-word/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```