Angela Davis, Audre Lorde and Toni Morrison are authors who have accompanied the work of art historian Elvan Zabunyan for several decades. Their political, philosophical, poetic and literary writings nourish her thinking and her imagination. All three have a strong link with transmission, commitment and youth: Angela Davis campaigned against racism in the segregated context of Birmingham from her teens and, having become a philosopher at the age of 25, emphasised the importance of public education in her pedagogy; Audre Lorde began writing poems at the age of 11 when her best friend died, and published them from the age of 16. Later, she became involved in inclusive and experimental writing workshops in schools and colleges; Toni Morrison taught at university for many years. Her first novels, The Bluest Eye (1970) and Sula (1974), were dedicated to childhood and adolescence, evoking the violence suffered but also hopes and freedoms.