Pat Parker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Pat Parker
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| Born |
Patricia Cooks
January 20, 1944 Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| Died | June 17, 1989 (aged 45) Oakland, California, U.S.
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| Spouse(s) |
Robert F. Parker (1966; divorced) |
| Partner(s) | Marty Dunham |
| Children | 2 |
Pat Parker (born Patricia Cooks) was an American poet and activist. She was born on January 20, 1944, and passed away on June 17, 1989. Her poems and her work to help others came from her experiences as an African-American woman. She was a strong voice for fairness and equality.
Pat Parker was involved in many groups that worked for change. These included the Black Panther Party and the Black Women's Revolutionary Council. She also helped start the Women's Press Collective. She worked hard for the rights of people of color and for people in the LGBTQ+ community. She also helped people facing violence at home. Pat Parker published five collections of poetry. These include Child of Myself (1972) and Movement in Black (1978).
Contents
Early Life and Education
Pat Parker was born on January 20, 1944. Her birthplace was Houston, Texas. Her parents were Marie Louise and Ernest Nathaniel Cooks. Marie Louise worked as a helper in homes. Ernest fixed tires. Pat was the youngest of four daughters. Her family first lived in the Third Ward. They moved to the Sunnyside area when Pat was four.
She left home when she was seventeen. She moved to Los Angeles to go to college. She studied at Los Angeles City College. She also went to San Francisco State College from 1966 to 1967. She did not finish her degree there.
Pat married a writer named Ed Bullins in 1962. They separated after four years. She later said that this relationship was very difficult for her. She then married Robert F. Parker. But she decided that marriage was not for her. In the late 1960s, she began to understand her identity as a lesbian. She said that after her first relationship with a woman, she knew what she wanted.
Work and Activism
Pat Parker worked as a director at the Oakland Feminist Women's Health Center. She held this job from 1978 to 1988. She helped this center grow and serve more people. Parker was also part of the Black Panther Movement.
In 1979, she went on tour with a group called "Varied Voices of Black Women." This group included poets and musicians. Some members were Linda Tillery and Mary Watkins. In 1980, she started the Black Women's Revolutionary Council. She also helped create the Women's Press Collective.
Parker was very active in many causes. She supported gay and lesbian communities. She worked to stop domestic violence. She also fought for the rights of people of color. Her father told her to use education to gain freedom. So, Pat moved to Oakland, California, in the early 1970s. She wanted to write and do more activist work there.
Pat Parker's Writing
Pat Parker gave her first public poetry reading in 1963 in Oakland. By 1968, she started reading her poems to women's groups. She read at bookstores, coffeehouses, and feminist events.
Judy Grahn, who was also a poet and a friend, said Pat Parker's poetry was part of a "Black tradition of radical poetry." This means her poems were strong and aimed to make changes.
Cheryl Clarke, another poet, called Parker a "lead voice" in lesbian poetry. Clarke said Parker's poems showed the challenges of being non-white, non-male, and non-heterosexual. Her work spoke about love between women. It also talked about what stops people from being close and free.
Parker and Audre Lorde met in 1969. They wrote letters and visited each other until Parker died. Their work together inspired many people. One example is the singer Nedra Johnson. Her song "Where Will You Be?" became a feminist anthem. Both Parker and Lorde wrote about using words to make a difference.
Womanslaughter Poem
Pat Parker's older sister, Shirley Jones, was killed by her husband. Parker wrote a poem about this sad event. The poem was called Womanslaughter (1978).
In the poem, Parker wrote that her sister's belongings were seen as her husband's. This included her life. The man who killed her sister was found guilty of "womanslaughter," not murder. This was because, as the poem says, "Men cannot kill their wives. They passion them to death." He only served one year in a special work program.
Parker shared this story at a big meeting in 1976. It was called the International Tribunal on Crimes against Women. It took place in Brussels. She promised to be strong for her "sisters."
In 2014, a small publisher in Israel printed many of Parker's poems. The book was very popular with readers and critics.
Later Life and Legacy
Pat Parker passed away on June 17, 1989. She was 45 years old. She died from breast cancer in Oakland, California. Many people in the lesbian-feminist community were sad about her loss.
Several places and awards are named after her. One is Pat Parker Place, a community center in Chicago. She is remembered for her powerful words and her work for justice. She was survived by her partner, Marty Dunham, and her two daughters.
Tributes to Pat Parker
The Pat Parker/Vito Russo Center Library in New York City is named in her honor. It also honors another writer, Vito Russo.
The Pat Parker Poetry Award is given out every year. It is for a free verse narrative poem or a dramatic monologue. The award goes to a Black lesbian poet.
In 2004, a composer named Awilda Villarini used Parker's words for her song "Dialogue."
In June 2019, Parker was honored as one of fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes." She was added to the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor. This wall is at the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn. The SNM is the first U.S. national monument for LGBTQ rights and history. Her name was added during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
Works
"Pat Parker, Where Will You Be". YouTube.
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), Diana Press
- Jonestown & Other Madness (1989), Firebrand Books
- Movement in Black: The Collected Poetry of Pat Parker, 1961–1978; includes work from Child of Myself and Pit Stop, foreword by Audre Lorde, introduction by Judy Grahn, Diana Press (Oakland, California), 1978, expanded edition, introduction by Cheryl Clarke, Firebrand Books (Ithaca, New York), 1999
Select Anthologies
- Amazon Poetry: An Anthology of Lesbian Poetry (1975)
- 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" in Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa (eds), This Bridge Called My Back, Watertown, Massachusetts: Persephone Press, 1981.
- Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983)
- Plexus
See also
In Spanish: Pat Parker para niños
- List of feminist poets
