Puerto Rican rap artist Bad Bunny
Credit: © 2022 Tinseltown/Shutterstock

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Bad Bunny is a Puerto Rican singer, rapper, and music producer. He is a Latin trap and reggaetón singer. Trap music is a genre (category) of rap music known for its heavy beats. Reggaetón is a type of dance music that originated in Puerto Rico. It draws inspiration from American hip-hop and Latin American and Caribbean music. Bad Bunny is known for his solo work, as well as his collaborations with such artists as Cardi B, Drake, and the Colombian singer J Balvin. He is also known for his personal style and fashion choices.

Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio was born on March 10, 1994, in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. His stage name came from a childhood photograph in which he appeared dressed in a rabbit costume with an angry look on his face. He was interested in music from a young age. He started making music while at the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo. He began releasing songs on the music-sharing website SoundCloud.

Bad Bunny signed a recording contract with the label Hear This Music in 2016. In 2017, he released “Soy Peor” (“I’m Worse”). The song reached number 22 on Billboard magazine’s “Hot Latin Songs” chart. In 2018, Bad Bunny released X 100pre (Forever), his first full-length album. The album reached the top spot on Billboard’s “Top Latin Albums” chart within one week of its release.

Bad Bunny’s second album, YHLQMDLG—Yo Hago Lo Que Me Da La Gana (I Do Whatever I Want), was released in 2020. It debuted at number two on the “Billboard 200″ chart. Later in 2020, his album El Último Tour del Mundo (The Last Tour of the World) became the first album recorded entirely in Spanish to reach the top of the “Billboard 200″ chart. In 2021, Bad Bunny won a Grammy Award for best Latin pop or urban album for YHLQMDLG. Later in 2021, he released the hit single “Yonaguni,” which he recorded partly in Japanese. Yonaguni is the name of a Japanese island. In 2022, Bad Bunny won a Grammy Award for best música urbana (urban music) album, for El Último Tour del Mundo.Un Verano Sin Ti (A Summer Without You) 

Frida Kahlo’s painting Self Portrait with Monkeys hangs at an exhibition.
© Dieter Nagl, AFPGetty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, many Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Frida Kahlo remains an influential painter and feminist icon. Kahlo was an important Mexican painter known for her harsh, revealing self-portraits. Despite living in the 1900′s, she refused to conform to strict gender stereotypes. She boxed, challenged men, dressed in masculine clothing, and smoked. Kahlo was also known for her fashion, wearing traditional-style, colorful dresses, and adorning her hair with flowers and braided styles. Always known for living honestly, Kahlo was openly bisexual.

At the age of 18, she was severely injured in an accident while riding on a bus in Mexico City. Kahlo lived in constant pain and was crippled for the rest of her life. She underwent about 35 operations, including the amputation of one leg. Unable to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor, Kahlo taught herself to paint. In 1929, she married the famous Mexican artist Diego Rivera. Their stormy relationship involved separations, divorce, and remarriage.

Frida Kahlo was an important Mexican painter known for her self-portraits that reflected her physical and emotional suffering. Many of her other paintings include symbolic images and elements from Mexican history.
© Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Kahlo’s paintings are mostly self-portraits that reflect her physical and emotional suffering. She painted with jarring colors and odd spatial relationships. Many of her pictures include startling symbolic images and elements from Mexican history. She often portrayed herself wearing colorful Mexican Indigenous dress and ornaments. Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyoacán, in southwest Mexico City. She died on July 13, 1954.

Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist who was famous for painting murals that portrayed Mexican life and history. Rivera is shown here standing in front of one of his paintings.
© Ed Clark, Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Diego Rivera became famous for murals that portrayed Mexican life and history. Rivera was a controversial figure because of his radical political beliefs and his attacks on the church and clergy.

Rivera was born on Dec. 8, 1886, in Guanajuato. In the 1920′s, he became involved in the new Mexican mural movement. With such Mexican artists as Jose Clemente Orozco and David Siqueiros, he began to experiment with fresco painting on large walls. Rivera soon developed his own style of large, simplified figures and bold colors. Many of his murals deal symbolically with Mexican society and thought after the country’s 1910 revolution. Some of Rivera’s best murals are in the National Palace in Mexico City and at the National Agricultural School in Chapingo, near Mexico City.

Diego Rivera was a Mexican artist famous for his murals. His Detroit Industry Murals are a series of frescoes consisting of 27 panels portraying industry in Detroit. Together they surround the Rivera Court in the Detroit Institute of Arts. A main panel on the north wall shows laborers working at the Ford Motor Company’s River Rouge plant. The artist painted the murals in 1932 and 1933.
Detail of a mural depicting Detroit Industry (1932-33), fresco by Diego Rivera; Detroit Institute of Arts/Gift of Edsel B. Ford (Bridgeman Images)

Rivera painted several significant works in the United States, which he visited in the early 1930′s and again in 1940. Perhaps his finest surviving United States work is a mural at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Rivera died on Nov. 25, 1957.

American entertainer Olivia Rodrigo
Credit: © Tinseltown, Shutterstock

American actress, singer, and songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has transformed from a Disney Channel star to a big name in pop music. Rodrigo first became known as an actress on television programs produced for the Disney Channel. Guts, Rodrigo’s second studio album, was released on Sep. 8, 2023. The album is full of emotional ballads and artful lyrics perfect for singing along.

Olivia Isabel Rodrigo was born on Feb. 20, 2003, in Temecula, California, southeast of Los Angeles. Rodrigo began taking voice, piano, and guitar lessons as a child. She acted in middle and high school performances and began acting professionally in 2016. She played a leading character, Paige Olvera, on the Disney TV series “Bizaardvark” (2016-2019).

In 2019, Rodrigo gained the lead role of Nini in “High School Musical: The Musical—The Series.” She wrote and performed original songs for the series, including “All I Want” (2019) and a duet with Joshua Bassett, “Just for a Moment” (2020).

She released her first single “Drivers License” on Jan. 8, 2021. It soon hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is now nominated at the 64th Grammy Awards for song of the year, record of the year, and best pop solo performance. Rodrigo is also nominated for best music video or film for “Good 4 U” (2021), best pop vocal album for Sour (2021), album of the year for Sour, and best new artist.

After “Drivers License,” her next two singles— “Deja Vu” (2021) and “Good 4 U”—also debuted in the top 10 of the Billboard “Hot 100″ chart. She became the first recording artist to start a career with three singles in the top 10. Rodrigo’s debut album, Sour, included elements of pop, folk, and rock music.

Besides releasing catchy singles, Rodrigo also took a trip to the White House this summer. She met with President Joe Biden and the immunologist and Chief Medical Advisor to the President of the United States, Anthony Fauci, to discuss the importance of young people getting vaccinated against COVID-19. In December, Rodrigo was named Entertainer of the Year by Time magazine. She announced a world tour for 2022 in which she will travel to Europe, Canada, and across the United States.

American gymnast Simone Biles receives the Presidential medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden during a ceremony where President Joe Biden will award the Presidential Medal of Freedom to seventeen recipients in the East Room of The White House on July 7, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Credit: © Oliver Contreras, SIPA USA/Alamy Images

With seven Olympic gold medals, one silver, two bronze, and a President Medal of Freedom, Simone Biles has quite a collection! Simone Biles, an American gymnastics star, is the most decorated gymnast in the history of the sport. In 2019, she surpassed the record previously held by Vitaly Scherbo of Belarus, winning 25 world championship medals. Biles has been celebrated internationally for her grace and athletic skill in executing the most difficult moves in women’s gymnastics. This August Biles won her eighth U.S. Championship after a hiatus from competing since the 2020 Summer Olympics. (The games were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Her win this year marks ten years since she first won the National Championship.

On July 7, 2022, Biles received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden, becoming the youngest living person in United States history to earn the honor. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian honor awarded by the president of the United States for outstanding service. The medal recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, or to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

The honor was established on July 6, 1945, as the U.S. Medal of Freedom by President Harry S. Truman to recognize notable civilian service that aided the United States during a time of war. On Feb. 22, 1963, after extensive study by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg and Assistant Secretary of Labor Daniel Patrick Moynihan, President John F. Kennedy reintroduced the medal as an honor for distinguished civilian service in peacetime. It was renamed the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Recipients have included educators, diplomats, former presidents and first ladies, authors, scientists, medical researchers, military leaders, humanitarians, religious leaders, civil rights activists, business executives, journalists, athletes, and performers.

Biles was a star of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won a team gold medal as well as individual gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise events, plus a bronze medal on the balance beam. By winning five medals, Biles tied the record for the most medals won by an American woman gymnast in a single Olympics. Her four gold medals tied the world record for the most gold medals won in a single Olympics by a female gymnast.

In 2019, Biles became the first woman to win five world championships in the all-around event. She is the first Black American to hold the women’s world all-around champion title. She won the world floor exercise title five times, the balance beam title in three times, and the vault title two times. Biles won the United States national all-around championship seven times. She was also a member of the American team that won gold medals in the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

At the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Biles brought attention to the intense pressure Olympic athletes face. After balking on the vault event in the team final, she withdrew from the rest of the team competition and four individual events—all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor exercise—citing mental health issues. Biles went on to win a bronze medal on the balance beam. She also won a team silver medal.

Simone Arianne Biles was born on March 14, 1997, in Columbus, Ohio. She grew up in Texas, raised by her grandparents. Biles was introduced to gymnastics at the age of six on a day-care field trip to a gym in Spring, Texas. She began copying the moves of gymnasts practicing in the gym, attracting the attention of a coach. Biles soon enrolled in recreational classes at the gym under instructor Aimee Boorman, who became her coach. Biles, who stands only 4 feet 8 inches (1.42 meters) tall, entered her first competition in 2011. She won her first gold medals in 2013. Within two years, she became one of the most celebrated and dominant gymnasts in history.

American singer and songwriter SZA
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The summer of SZA! SZA, pronounced like SIH zuh is an American singer and songwriter. SZA’s second album SOS (2022), is at the top of the Billboard charts this summer. SOS sits with Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time and Taylor Swift’s Midnights in mid-year reports.

Solána Imani Rowe was born on Nov. 8, 1989, in St. Louis, Missouri. She spent much of her childhood living in Maplewood, New Jersey. Her stage name, SZA, makes use of the Supreme Alphabet, a system of text interpretation used by the Five-Percent Nation. The Five-Percent Nation is a Black nationalist movement based in Islam. Black nationalists seek to develop an independent Black social structure.

SZA rose to fame in 2014 after releasing the EP Z. EP stands for extended play and is a type of musical recording that includes several songs but is not considered a full-length album. SZA’s music is described as alternative R&B with jazz and rap influences. Critics have praised her controlled, dreamy vocals.

In 2012, SZA released her first EP, See.SZA.Run. Her second EP, S, released in 2013, received praise from critics. SZA released two singles before her third EP, Z. SZA began collaborating with major recording artists, including Beyoncé, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, and Rihanna.

SZA signed a major-label recording contract in 2017. She released her debut album, Ctrl, that same year.  In 2021, SZA released “I Hate U” on SoundCloud. The song went viral on the social media platform TikTok. When SZA released her second album, SOS, in 2022, the album hit number one on the “Billboard 200” music chart.

Jenna Ortega attends the world premiere of “Scream VI” at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on March 06, 2023.
Credit: © Lev Radin, Shutterstock

From starring in horror movies to television shows, Jenna Ortega is moody and talented! Ortega began her acting career as a child, appearing in minor motion picture and television roles before gaining popularity on the Disney Channel. She later transitioned into more adult television and theatrical roles. Ortega gained widespread attention in 2022 for her portrayal of the title character in the television series “Wednesday,” based on the Addams Family characters originally created by Charles Addams. Ortega opened a new chapter of fame through her dark, moody, and unique portrayal of Wednesday.

“Wednesday” is directed by American motion picture director Tim Burton, who brings a modern twist to “The Addams Family,” which originally aired in the 1960’s. Ortega’s character is expelled from school after releasing piranhas on the boy’s water polo practice in retaliation for the team bullying her brother. Wednesday’s parents enroll her in their alma mater Nevermore Academy, a school for kids just like Wednesday in rural Vermont. Some of the series was filmed in Transylvania, a region in Romania, which was the main site of the legend about the vampire Dracula. Spooky!

Jenna Marie Ortega was born Sept. 27, 2002, in Coachella Valley, California. Her acting career started when her mother posted a video of her on Facebook. The video soon led to minor and supporting roles in television and film. In 2014, she began to gain more attention through her roles in television, most notably programs on the Disney Channel and the CW Television Network.

From 2014 to 2019, she portrayed the young version of Jane in the CW television series “Jane the Virgin.” From 2016 to 2018, she starred in the Disney Channel television series “Stuck in the Middle.” In 2019, she appeared in the Netflix series “You.”

Since 2020, Ortega has also taken on leading roles in motion pictures, often in horror movies. She starred in The Fallout, Scream, and X (all 2022). In 2023, she starred in Scream VI, the sequel to Scream (2022). You will see Ortega more and more in new movies and television shows!

American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift.
Credit: AP Photo

What an era! From March 2023 to August 2024, American singer and songwriter Taylor Swift is touring Asia, Australia, Central America, Europe, North America, and South America. The Eras Tour is a tribute to all of her albums, especially the four albums she released without touring since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted public events. The concerts are over three hours long with a total of 44 tracks, complete with outfit changes and skilled choreography. Swift became one of country music’s youngest and most popular performers in the first decade of the 2000’s. She has won a number of Grammy Awards and other awards for her music. Her music also has set many sales records and reached people around the world.

When Swift announced the tour, entertainment broker Ticketmaster offered a presale program. Over 3.5 million people registered with the program, but the website crashed when tickets were officially released. Over 2.4 million tickets were sold on the opening day of the tour, breaking the record for the most concert tickets sold by an artist in a single day.

Taylor Alison Swift was born on Dec. 13, 1989, in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, near Reading. She learned to play guitar as a child. She began singing at local fairs and festivals at age 10. Before she was a teenager, Swift traveled regularly with her parents to Nashville, Tennessee, to perform and write songs with local songwriters. Nashville is the center of the country music industry. Swift gained attention at age 12 when she sang the United States national anthem at the US Open tennis tournament in New York City. When she was 14, she moved with her family to a suburb of Nashville.

Swift’s first single, “Tim McGraw,” from her first album, Taylor Swift (2006), became a hit. The album also included “Our Song,” Swift’s first number-one country hit on Billboard magazine’s “Hot Country Songs” chart.

Swift’s second album, Fearless (2008), became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. It produced several hits, including the number-one country singles “You Belong with Me” and “Love Story.” Swift won four Country Music Association awards for the album, including entertainer of the year. She became the youngest performer to win that award. Swift’s third album, Speak Now, released in 2010, also became a huge hit. The album produced many hit singles, including ”Innocent.”

Several of Swift’s songs have topped Billboard’s ranking for number of digital song sales in a single week. These have included “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (2012) and “Look What You Made Me Do” (2017). Swift’s fifth album, 1989 (2014), was more pop-oriented. It featured the hits “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space.” With the release of 1989, Swift became the first artist to have three albums sell a million or more copies in a week. Her other albums include Red (2012), Reputation (2017), Lover (2019), Folklore and Evermore (both 2020), and Midnights (2022).

In 2021, following a dispute regarding ownership of the master recordings of her first six studio albums, Swift announced she would re-record the albums in a bid to regain ownership. That year, she released Fearless (Taylor’s Version), a recasting of her 2008 album, Fearless; and Red (Taylor’s Version), a recasting of her 2012 album, Red. The 2021 albums also included previously unreleased songs.

Swift made her motion-picture acting debut in the romantic comedy Valentine’s Day (2010). She provided the voice of a little girl named Audrey in the animated feature Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax (2012). In addition, Swift starred in the motion-picture musical Cats (2019). A documentary motion picture, Miss Americana (2020), follows Swift over the course of several years of her career.

A street market in Delhi, India, in 2014.
Credit: © Don Mammoser, Shutterstock

In late April 2023, India claimed the title of the world’s most populous country. Nearly 2.9 million more people live in India than China, which held the title since 1950. A densely populated country, about a sixth of the 8 billion person global population resides in India, the seventh largest country in size. There are around 1.4 billion people in India. As the population of India continues growing, many other countries face a stagnant population or even decreasing numbers. According to the United Nations, India’s population is expected to peak at 1.7 billion in 2064. The rapid growth brings challenges in education, infrastructure, and jobs.

While the birth rate, or children per woman, of many countries around the world keeps declining, India’s population keeps growing. In 1970, China and India had similar birth rates of 5.8 in China and 5.72 in India. India’s birth rate dropped from 6 in the 1960’s to 3.4 in 1992. India’s birth rate further dropped to 2 in 2021. Despite this fertility rate decrease, India continues to grow because the average family in the 1960’s had 6 children. Those children are now parents and grandparents. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke in 2019 about controlling India’s population growth by encouraging limiting the number of children in a family.

A country’s average fertility rate must be 2.1 to maintain a population. Decades of limiting families to one child in China halted the population growth. India also established measures to curb rapid population growth, but the decline in the birth rate was more gradual compared to China’s. China’s birth rate fell to 1.2 in 2022, the nation’s lowest ever, despite the end of one-child policies in 2016. Throughout the world, the COVID-19 pandemic coincided with lower birth rates.

Many populations are aging throughout the world. The median age of a country shows at what age half the population is older and half is younger. In 2022, India’s median age of 28.7 was almost a decade lower than China’s 38.4. According to the Census Bureau, the median age in the United States reached a record high of 38.9 years in 2022. Since the birth rate has declined, the median age will continue growing older. The populations of India and China over the age of 65 will double by 2050. As healthcare and other survival measures improve and the birth rates fall, the number of people over the age of 65 is increasing in many countries. Aging populations strain economies as older citizens retire from work and require medical care and other assistance.

With such rapid population growth, unemployment levels have risen. In 2021, India’s working-age population contained 900 million people. It is projected that number will hit 1 billion in several years. Many cannot find work and have to travel or move to find secure employment. While India’s fast-growing economy has become the fifth largest in the world, the wealth is not spread evenly across the country. Its gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of a healthy economy, is high. Dividing India’s high GDP by its large population reveals an extremely low per capita GDP. Due to its low per capita GDP, India is still considered a developing country and one of the poorest nations in the world.

The Indian government is incentivizing living in smaller towns as the larger cities deal with pollution and rising temperatures. By improving infrastructure and public transportation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to encourage migration to smaller towns. The population has outgrown India’s transportation systems. In June 2023, a train crash in Odisha killed more than 261 people. The trains were packed with people, with many standing for the entire trip. The trains were so crowded that it hindered rescue efforts.

Many experts believe improving education for women across India will solve many of its problems. World Bank data shows that only 19 percent of women in India participated in the workforce in 2021. By providing education for women after primary school, they can help lead India into the future. If more women receive an education and enter the workforce, the birth rate will decline further, improving the quality of life and strength of democracy in India.

American entertainer RuPaul Andre Charles
Credit: © DFree/Shutterstock

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

RuPaul is an American actor, author, and entertainer. RuPaul is best known as a drag queen (cross-dressing performer) and host of the reality competition television series “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which began in 2009.

RuPaul Andre Charles was born Nov. 17, 1960, in San Diego, California. As a teenager, RuPaul moved to Atlanta, Georgia, with his sister. There, he first started performing in what he called “terror drag,” a style that incorporates combat boots, hairy legs, and unkempt wigs. He also started performing in a few different bands, including RuPaul and the U-Hauls and The Now Explosion. RuPaul made several low-budget motion pictures, including a blaxploitation film in which he played the lead character. Blaxploitation films, made popular in the 1970’s, feature Black characters and outrageous plots and action.

RuPaul moved to New York City in the late 1980’s. During that time, he adopted a more glamorous drag style with high heels, styled hair, and make-up. After a few years of performing in nightclubs and working as a reporter for a cable show, RuPaul found international fame with his 1993 pop song “Supermodel (You Better Work).” As an actor, RuPaul made cameo appearances in films like The Brady Bunch Movie (1995) and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995). On TV, he made cameo appearances on shows like “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” (1996-2003) and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” (1993-2001). Out of drag, he acted in the television movie A Mother’s Prayer (1995) and in the feature film …But I’m A Cheerleader (1999).

In 1995, RuPaul became a spokesmodel for MAC cosmetics and chaired the company’s charitable AIDS fund. He hosted his own talk show in 1996, “The RuPaul Show”, but it was canceled in 1998. In 2004, RuPaul released the album Red Hot, which was followed up with Champion in 2009. His later albums include Glamazon (2011), Born Naked (2014), Butch Queen (2016), and American (2017).

In 2009, RuPaul began hosting the reality competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” Each season follows a group of drag queens as they compete to become “America’s next drag superstar.”  In each episode, contestants compete in various drag-related tasks—such as singing, dancing, sewing, and acting—and then show off different themed looks on a runway. After receiving critiques from RuPaul and a panel of judges, two contestants are selected to lip sync. Lip sync is a style of performance in which people move their lips in time to recorded music. The contestant who performs worse is eliminated from the competition. “Drag Race” has won more than 20 Emmy awards, including outstanding competition program and outstanding host for a reality or competition program for RuPaul.

“Drag Race” has been spun off into international versions, including series in the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, Thailand, Chile, and the Philippines. Drag queens in Australia and New Zealand compete on a combination show called “Drag Race Down Under.” The American original has a spin-off called “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars.” In this version, previously eliminated queens return to compete again.

In 2020, RuPaul created and starred in the Netflix show “AJ and The Queen,” a comedy about a down-on-her-luck drag queen traveling across the United States. The show ran for one season and featured many performers who had appeared on “Drag Race.”

American poet Audre Lorde
Credit: Library of Congress

June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month. All month long, Behind the Headlines will feature lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning pioneers in a variety of areas.

Not only a librarian and teacher but a leading African American poet, Audre Lorde wrote for several causes. Much of Lorde’s poetry deals passionately with issues of race, gender, and sexuality. She described herself as “Black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet.”

Audrey Geraldine Lorde was born on Feb. 18, 1934, in New York City. She dropped the “y” at the end of her first name at a young age. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College in 1959 and a Master of Library Science degree from Columbia University in 1961. For much of the 1960’s, she was a librarian in Mount Vernon, New York, and in New York City. Lorde was a professor of English at John Jay College of Criminal Justice from 1970 to 1981 and professor of English at Hunter College from 1981 to 1986.

Lorde’s earlier poems concentrated on love themes. Beginning in the 1960’s, the civil rights movement in the United States inspired her to turn more toward political themes, attacking racial prejudice and sexual discrimination. She also wrote poems about parent-child relationships.

Lorde’s first collection of poetry was published as The First Cities (1968). Her later collections include Cables to Rage (1970), From a Land Where Other People Live (1973), New York Head Shop and Museum (1974), Coal (1976), Between Our Selves (1976), The Black Unicorn (1978), and Our Dead Behind Us (1986). The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde was published in 1997, after her death.

Lorde’s prose works include The Cancer Journals (1980), a highly praised description of her battle with breast cancer. She developed liver cancer in 1984 and continued her examination of her cancer condition in the essay collection A Burst of Light (1988). Cancer ultimately caused her death on Nov. 17, 1992. Lorde’s essays and speeches were also collected in Sister Outsider (1984). Lorde also wrote a novel, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (1982).