Students replace portrait of Shakespeare with black lesbian poet Audre Lorde
A portrait of William Shakespeare hung at the University of Pennsylvania has been replaced with one of a famed black lesbian poet.
The students removed the iconic image of Shakespeare which had been hung at the entrance the university’s English department.
It was replaced with a portrait of Audre Lorde, a 20th century black, feminist, lesbian poet.
It comes after the department voted years ago to replace the portrait “in order to represent a more diverse range of writers.”
But according to the Daily Pennsylvanian, the students had taken the matter into their own hands after the painting remained.
“Students removed the Shakespeare portrait and delivered it to my office as a way of affirming their commitment to a more inclusive mission for the English department,” department chairman Jed Esty told the Washington Times.
Students had taped together 24 pieces of a4 paper to make up the portrait of Lorde.
Lorde, who was African American, was a famed writer, feminist, womanist, lesbian, and civil rights activist.
She expressed anger and outrage at civil and social injustices she observed throughout her life in her work.
