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Pat Parker (1944 - 1989)
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 Movement
in Black by
Pat Parker, Cheryl Clarke (Introduction)
This is the new,
expanded edition of a groundbreaking volume of poetry first
published in 1978, 11 years before Parker's early death of breast
cancer. Based in the Bay Area and steeped in the radical politics
of the late 1960s, Parker was the contemporary of Audre Lorde,
Adrienne Rich, and LeRoi Jones/Amiri Baraka. In her introduction,
Cheryl Clarke identifies Parker as a "lead voice and
caller" in the lesbian-feminist cultural scene, but chides
her for careless editing, as if Parker feared that her vernacular
poems would lose their power if she subjected them to cold
critique. Her most potent works do rely on an inspired punch line
rather than carefully plumed images or language, as in "For
Willyce," when she describes making love to a woman:
and your sounds drift down
oh god!
oh jesus!
and i think
here it is, some dude's
getting credit for what
a woman
has done
again.
A distinguished collection, including previously
unpublished work and tributes from many of Parker's friends and
allies. --Regina Marler
(Amazon.com)
"This book changed my life in so many ways.
I was already out when I first read Pat Parker's poetry. Poems
like "For Straight Folks who don't mind gays but wish they
weren't so blatant" changed forever the way I feel about
being closeted (I'll go, if you go too...). "There is a woman
in this town" evokes the splits in the lesbian community that
I encountered in the late 70's and early 80's. Her poems on Black
experience challenged my thinking as well. Get it, read it. You
won't regret it." -- Anonymous Review (Amazon.com)
The
Greatest Legacy : Sharing Our Faith With Our Grandchildren
by
Pat Parker
The Greatest Legacy is a guide for grandparents
and other adults who are interested in assisting children to live
in faith. Family life is emphasized. Specific doctrine, theology,
and directed religious practices are left for adult family members
to provide. Activities at the ends of chapters assist adults in
providing hands-on faith experiences.
"...I am grateful to Pat Parker for her
sensitive, intelligent and profoundly insightful
understanding..." -- Charles
Vaughn, Director of Program Ministries, Central UMC, Mt. Airy,
North Carolina
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By Ilene
Alexander, Voices from the
Gaps
Southern born and educated, Pat Parker began her
life in Houston, Texas, on January 20, 1944, as the youngest of
four daughters in a Black working class family. Urged by her
father to take "the freedom train of education," Parker
later emigrated to Oakland, California, in the early 1970s to
pursue work, writing and opportunities for activism. Working from
1978 to 1987 as medical coordinator at the Oakland Feminist
Women's Health Center, which grew from one clinic to six sites
during her tenure, Parker also participated in political activism
ranging from early involvement with the Black Panther Party and
Black Women's Revolutionary Council to formation of the Women's
Press Collective to wide-ranging activism in gay and lesbian
organizations and positions of national leadership regarding
women's health issues, especially concerning domestic and sexual
violence...
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By Pat Parker
You know, some people got a lot of
nerve. Sometimes I don't believe the things I see and hear.
Have you met the woman who's
shocked by two women kissing and, in the same breath, tells you
she is pregnant? But gays, shouldn't be so blatant.
Or this straight couple sits next
to you in a movie and you can't hear the dialogue because of the
sound effects. But gays shouldn't be so blatant.
And the woman in your office spends
an entire lunch hour talking about her new bikini drawers and how
much her husband likes them. But gays shouldn't be so blatant.
Or the "hip" chick in
your class rattling like a mile a minute, while you're trying to
get stoned in the john, about the camping trip she took with her
musician boyfriend.
But gays shouldn't be so blatant.
You go into a public bathroom and
all over the walls there's John loves Mary, Janice digs Richard,
Pepe loves Delores, etc., etc. But gays shouldn't be so blatant.
Or your go to an amusement park and
there's a tunnel of love with pictures of straights painted on the
front and grinning couples are coming in and out. But gays
shouldn't be so blatant.
Fact is, blatant heterosexuals are
all over the place. Supermarkets, movies, on your job, in church,
in books, on television every day and night, every place--even in
gay bars--and they want gay men and woman to go and hide in the
closet.
So to you straight folks I say,
"Sure, I'll go if you go too. But, I'm polite so, after
you."
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By Pat Parker
Excerpt:
Boots are being polished...trumpeters clean
their horns Chains and locks forged...the crusade has begun. Once
again flags of Christ...are unfurled in the dawn and cries of soul
saviors...sing apocalyptic on air waves. Citizens, good citizens
all...parade into voting booths and in self-righteous sanctity...X
away our right to life. I do not believe as some...that the vote
is an end, I fear even more...it is just a beginning. So I must
make assessment...look to you and ask: Where will you be...when
they come?
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By Pat Parker
Introduction:
The African American lesbian-feminist poet Pat
Parker composed these lines in 1983. They were occasioned by a
historically specific event: "Three women," she wrote in
her introduction, "were arrested for assault recently after
they beat up a woman who put a swastika on another woman's
shoulder during an S&M encounter." Parker, also a health
activist, died of cancer in 1989 at the age of 45.
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The Pat Parker/Vito Russo Center Library was
founded in June 1991 to encourage and facilitate the reading and
research of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender literature.
Since then, the Center Library has become an important resource
for the LGBT community, with more than 300 people visiting the
library each month to browse and borrow books and videos.
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This award is given for a free verse, narrative
poem or dramatic monologue by a black lesbian poet. Poems may be
up to 50 lines in length, minimum 20 lines and preferably reflect
some aspect of Pat Parker's work or life, or the concerns of
African-American women, lesbians or feminists. Special preference
will be given to poems that inspire, enlighten or encourage.
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Names Index:
A B
C D
E F
G H
I J
K L
M N
O P
Q R
S T
U V
W X
Y Z
| Authors
Index | Scholars
Index |
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