"Sister Outsider"
Creator
Collection
Rights Note
Copyright held by Dindga McCannon; digitized through a partnership with The Feminist Institute, 2024.Credit Line
Digitized for Dindga McCannon during The Feminist Institute’s pop-up Memory Lab, 2024. All material descriptions were adapted from an interview done with McCannon in June 2025.Copyright Status
In Copyright - Educational Use PermittedThis scan depicts the cover of the 2019 edition of Sister Outsider (originally published 1984) by Audre Lorde, designed by artist Dindga McCannon (one of four cover designs). The cover features McCannon’s mixed-media quilt, Threads of the Past, Inspiration for the Future. The quilt honors the women who preceded her and whom she draws upon for strength and guidance during difficult times. The central female figure functions allegorically as a self-representation of McCannon.
The quilt incorporates hand-painting, silkscreen, appliqué, and machine embroidery, reflecting McCannon’s multidisciplinary textile practice and her commitment to intergenerational memory and Black feminist artistic traditions.