Pat Parker

Pat Parker (January 20, 1944 - June 19, 1989) was a Black lesbian feminist poet. [Bereano, Nancy K. Publisher's note, "Movement in Black", 1989, Crossing Press, ISBN 0895941139]

Early life

Parker and her family grew up working class poor in Third Ward, Houston, Texas [Grahn, Judy. Preface, "Movement in Black", 1989, Crossing Press, ISBN 0895941139] , a mostly African-American part of the city. Her mother was a domestic worker , and her father retreaded tires.De Veaux, Alexis. Warrior Poet: A Biography of Audre Lorde, W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, ISBN 0393019543, pp166-167]

When she was four years old, her family moved to Sunnyside, Houston, Texas.Cornwell, Anita. "Pat Parker -- Black Lesbian Poet Radical Pioneer author of Movement in Black", Hera Magazine, 1975, quoted in [http://www.amusejanetmason.com/Park_Parker1.htm A Muse] ]

She left home at seventeen, moved to Los Angeles, California, earning an undergraduate degree there at Los Angeles City College, and a graduate degree at San Francisco State College. She got married (to playwright Ed Bullins) in 1962.Alexander, Ilene 1998 [http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/parker_pat.html ] ] Parker and Bullens separated after four years and she alluded to her ex-husband as physically violent, and said she was "scared to death of him".

She got married a second time, to Berkeley, California writer Robert F. Parker [Simon, John Oliver. "Aldebaran Review" in "Berkeley Daze", Big Bridge Press] , but decided that the "idea of marriage... wasn't working" for her.

Parker began to identify as a lesbian in the late 1960s, and, in a 1975 interview with Anita Cornwell, stated that "after my first relationship with a woman, I knew where I was going."

Work Life

Parker was involved in the Black Panther Movement, in 1979 she toured with the "Varied Voices of Black Women", a group of poets and musicians which included "Linda Tillery", "Mary Watkins" & "Gwen Avery". [ [http://www.blackherstory.com/conferencesessions03/session7.html National Black Herstory Task Force ] ] [ [http://www.deepoakland.org/author?id=175 Deep Oakland ] ] . She founded the "Black Women's Revolutionary Council" in 1980 [ [http://www.deepoakland.org/author?id=175 Deep Oakland ] ] , and she also contributed to the formation of the "Women's Press Collective", as well as being involved in wide-ranging activism in gay and lesbian organizing.

Parker worked from 1978-1987 as a medical coordinator at the Oakland Feminist Women's Health Center"

Writing

Parker gave her first public poetry reading in 1963 in Oakland. In 1968, she began to read her poetry to women's groups at Women's bookstores, coffeehouses and feminist events. [ [http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/parker_pat.html VG/Voices from the Gaps Project: Ilene Alexander] ]

Judy Grahn, a fellow poet and a personal friend, identifies Pat Parker's poetry as a part of the "continuing Black tradition of radical poetry" [Grahn, Judy. 1978, quoted in "Feminist Review", No. 34, Perverse Politics: Lesbian Issues (Spring, 1990)]

Cheryl Clarke, another poet and peer, identifies her as a "lead voice and caller" in the world of lesbian poetry. [Clarke, Cheryl. "Movement in Black", 1989, Crossing Press, ISBN 0895941139] designed to confront both black and women's communities with, as Clarke notes, "the precariousness of being non-white, non-male, non-heterosexual in a racist, misogynist, homophobic, imperial culture."Clarke, Cheryl. Review of "Movement in Black" Conditions (magazine) Six, Summer 1980, pp217-225] Clarke believes that Parker articulates, "a black lesbian-feminist perspective of love between women and the circumstances that prevent our intimacy and liberation."

Pat Parker and Audre Lorde first met in 1969 and continued to exchange letters and visits until Parker's death in 1989.

Womanslaughter

Parker's elder sister was murdered by her husband, and the autobiographical poem, "Womanslaughter" (1978) is based on this event.

In the poem [Parker, Pat. "Womanslaughter", Diana Press, 1978] , Parker notes that

:"Her things were his":"including her life."

The perpetrator was convicted of "womanslaughter", not murder; because

:"Men cannot kill their wives.":"They passion them to death."

He served a one-year sentence in a work-release program. Parker brought this crime to the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women in 1976 in Brussels, [Russell, Diana E. H. "Report on the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women", "Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies", Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring, 1977, pp1-6] vowing

:"I will come to my sisters":"not dutiful,":"I will come strong."

Death

Parker died of Breast Cancer at age 45. She was survived by her long-time partner and two daughters.

Tributes

*The [http://www.gaycenter.org/node/1348/ The Pat Parker/Vito Russo Center Library] in New York is named in honor of Parker and fellow writer, Vito Russo.
*The "Pat Parker Poetry Award" is awarded each year for a free verse, narrative poem or dramatic monologue by a black lesbian poet.

Books

*"Child of Myself" (1972) "The Women's Press Collective"
*"Pit Stop" (1973) "The Women's Press Collective"
*"Womanslaughter" (1978) "Diana Press"
*"Movement in Black" (1978) "Crossing Press"
*"Jonestown & Other Madness" (1989) Firebrand Books

elect Anthologies

*"Where Would I Be Without You? The Poetry of Pat Parker and Judy Grahn" 1976 Sound Recording Olivia Records
*"Lesbian Concentrate" Sound Recording 1977 Olivia Records
*"Revolution: It's Not Neat or Pretty or Quick" This Bridge Called My Back Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, eds. Watertown, MA: Persephone Press, 1981.

References