Movement in Black facts for kids
Movement In Black is a book of poems by Pat Parker. She was a Black poet and activist who wrote about her life and experiences. Her poems often shared her thoughts on being a Black woman, a mother, and someone who fought for equal rights.
About the Book's Journey
The book Movement In Black was first published in 1978 by a company called Diana Press. But Diana Press closed down in 1979, so the book wasn't available for a while.
Later, in 1983, another publisher, Crossing Press, printed a new version. However, by 1987, the book was hard to find again.
After Pat Parker passed away in 1989, Firebrand Books published a new edition. This version included special introductions by famous writers Audre Lorde and Judy Grahn.
About ten years later, Firebrand Books released an even bigger version called An Expanded Edition of Movement In Black. This edition added new poems that hadn't been published before. It also had a new introduction by Cheryl Clarke and tributes from ten Black writers, including Audre Lorde, Angela Y. Davis, and Barbara Smith.
What the Poems Are About
The poems in Movement In Black share Pat Parker's personal experiences. She wrote about her life as a Black woman, a mother, a writer, and an activist.
In its first few printings, the book had four main parts:
- Married: Poems about her experiences with marriage and divorce.
- Liberation Fronts: Poems about her strong beliefs and her work as an activist fighting for justice.
- Being Gay: Poems exploring her identity and relationships with other women.
- Love Poems: Poems about love and emotions.
The expanded edition added a fifth section called New Work, which included more of her poems.
Some of the poems in the book talk about her personal relationships, like "Sometimes My Husband Acts Like a Man." Others focus on her activism, such as "Don't Let the Fascists Speak" and "For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend." She also wrote about her identity in poems like "My Lover Is a Woman." And, of course, there were poems about love, like "Sunshine."
