Gloria Ida Joseph (1927/1928 – August 6, 2019) was a Crucian-American academic, writer, educator, and activist. She was a self-identified radical

Black feminist Black feminism is a philosophy that centers on the idea that "Black women are inherently valuable, that lack women'sliberation is a necessity not as an adjunct to somebody else's but because our need as human persons for autonomy." Race, gen ...

lesbian writer who synthesized art and activism in her work. Joseph's scholarship centered race, gender, sexuality, and class. She is known for her pioneering work on Black feminism and her activism on issues concerning Black women across the

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

, including in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Early life and education

Born Gloria Ida Joseph to Daniel Joseph and Ida David Joseph, they emigrated from

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where Joseph was raised. She was a strong student and also played basketball and field hockey in school. She was the great-niece of philosopher

Casper Holstein Casper Holstein (December 7, 1876 – April 5, 1944) was a prominent New York mobster involved in the Harlem " numbers rackets" during the Harlem Renaissance. Early life His birth name was Egbert Joseph and changed his name in honor of his ma ...

. Joseph attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and received her bachelor of science degree in Health, Physical Education & Recreation. Later she received her master's degree in Psychological Services at

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

and then worked as a guidance counselor in New York City. Joseph went on to receive her doctoral degree in educational psychology at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in 1967.

Career

Joseph worked at Hampshire College as a professor in the School of Social Sciences, where she co-founded the school's the Black studies department in 1969. Joseph also worked for COSEP, a committee where she helped recruit and retain Black and Latino students to the school. During her career she was a prolific writer and engaged the topics of feminism, race, sexuality, and activism. Joseph also founded Sisterhood in Support of Sisters in South Africa, an advocacy group for women in

Soweto Soweto () is a township of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality in Gauteng, South Africa, bordering the city's mining belt in the south. Its name is an English syllabic abbreviation for ''South Western Townships''. Formerly a s ...

. After her retirement from Hampshire College in the 1980s, she moved back to

St. Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

with her life partner Audre Lorde, and continued to write and lecture at various universities as a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

for another two decades. While there, the couple founded the Che Lumumba School for Truth and the Women's Coalition of St. Croix in 1981, which focused on eradicating local gender-based violence. Joseph also founded the Doc Loc Apiary for local honey production. After Lorde's 1992 death Joseph published ''The Wind Is Spirit: The Life, Love and Legacy of Audre Lorde'' (2016)'','' "a compilation of essays, photos, and recollections by a diverse group of contributors ruminating on how Lorde impacted their life, work, and activism." She and Lorde discussed the project extensively before Lorde's death. Joseph used

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

to help fund the writing and publication. The anthology-biography received a 2017 Lambda Literary Award and the

Association for Women in Psychology The Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) is a not-for-profit scientific and educational organization committed to encouraging feminist psychological research, theory, and activism. History The Association for Women in Psychology (AWP) was f ...

's 2017 Distinguished Publication Award.

Personal life

Joseph was a lesbian. She was a life partner of prolific Black feminist writer Audre Lorde. They lived on Joseph's native island home of

from 1981 until Lorde's death from cancer in 1992. Joseph later had a long-term relationship with Afro-German activist Helga Emde that lasted over 20 years until Joseph's death.

Death

Joseph died on August 16, 2019 at age 91 at her home on Saint Croix.

Works

* ''Common Differences: Conflicts in Black and White Feminist Perspectives'' (with J. Lewis). 1986,

South End Press South End Press was a non-profit book publisher run on a model of participatory economics. It was founded in 1977 by Michael Albert, Lydia Sargent, Juliet Schor, among others, in Boston's South End. It published books written by political activi ...

*''Hell Under God's Orders: Hurricane Hugo in St. Croix – Disaster and Survival'' (with H. Rowe and A. Lorde). 1990, Winds of Change Press *''On Time and In Step: Reunion on the Glory Road''. 2008, Winds of Change Press * ''The Wind is Spirit: The Life, Love, and Legacy of Audre Lorde.'' 2016, Villarosa Media

References

External links

Video
Gloria Joseph speaking at the First Annual Professor Audre Lorde Memorial Birthday Celebration at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Gloria 1920s births 2019 deaths Caribbean women writers 21st-century Caribbean people American women academics 20th-century American women writers Black feminism American feminist writers 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators Cornell University alumni New York University alumni City College of New York alumni Hampshire College faculty LGBT academics American lesbian writers Lesbian feminists People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Writers from New York City 21st-century American women