Pat Parker (1944-1989) was a resilient and beautifully haunting poet and activist known for her quick wit and feminist visceral writing.
All month, we're celebrating Pride. Tune in to hear about amazing members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know -- but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Leading Ladies, Activists, STEMinists, Local Legends, and many more. Encyclopedia Womannica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Encyclopedia Womannica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard and Lindsey Kratochwill. Special thanks to Shira Atkins, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, and Sundus Hassan.
We are offering free ad space on Wonder Media Network shows to organizations working towards social justice. For more information, please email Jenny at jenny@wondermedianetwork.com.
Follow Wonder Media Network:
Before we get started with today’s episode, I want to let you know that there will be mentions of domestic and sexual abuse.
Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Encyclopedia Womannica.
All month, we’re celebrating Pride. Today, we’re talking about a resilient and beautifully haunting poet. Known for her quick wit and feminist visceral writing, this Black lesbian poet often wrote about love, intimacy and liberation.
Let’s talk about Pat Parker.
Pat Parker was born Patricia Cooks on January 20, 1944 in Houston, Texas. Pat grew up in a low income, working class family. Later in life, Pat described her family in Houston as “Texas Hell, survivors / of soul-searing poverty / survivors of small-town / mentality”.
Pat had a difficult start in life. As a child, Pat was sexually assaulted by a stranger.
In 1962, Pat’s uncle died in police custody, same year as a young boy was murdered by a group of people in her community for being gay. Being both Black and queer in Texas was incredibly unsafe. Texas was too painful for Pat, so that same year, Pat graduated high school and left to study at a community college in Los Angeles.
When Pat moved to California, she started dating playwright and Black Panther Minister of Culture, Ed Bullins. The couple married that same year. Their marriage was extremely violent. While Pat was pregnant with their child, Ed pushed Pat down a flight of stairs, leading to a miscarriage.
In 1964, Pat and Ed moved north to the San Francisco Bay Area. Ed was becoming increasingly violent. Finally in 1966, they divorced. That same year, Pat remarried, this time to writer Robert F. Parker. The union didn’t last long: they got divorced that same year.
It was after her second divorce that Pat realized that the “idea of marriage wasn’t working” for her.
It was after Pat’s second divorce that she began to engage in the radical politics of her day. She became increasingly active in the Black Panther Party and started to soak up socialist and communist literature and theory. Her political radicalization went hand-in-hand with the development of her writing career. By the late 1960s, Pat was living openly as a lesbian engaging in womens rights, civils rights, and gays rights. She was also teaching creative writing workshops and writing poetry.
In 1969 Pat met and became good friends with Audre Lorde. They connected as Black lesbian writers and mothers who sought liberation from oppression and pain.
Pat and Audre’s friendship was an inspiration to both. Pat wrote a poem titled “For Audre” in her 1978 collection, Movement in Black, articulating their sister-love. And Audre Lorde’s essay “Eye to Eye” was inspired by her friendship with Pat. It talks about the enduring strength and tradition of Black women in sisterhood.
The 1970s was an incredibly creative decade for Pat. From 1972 to 1978, she published 4 powerful collections of poetry. Her works often delved into women loving other women, liberation, and sometimes extreme violence. One of Pat’s most deeply powerful and heart-shattering works is The Woman Slaughter collection where she writes about her sister, the “quiet” Shirley Jones, who was murdered by her ex-husband.
Pat’s devotion to women’s rights and liberation showed in her work. She wrote of the deeply personal political and social vulnerabilities of Black women.
In 1978, Pat became the director the of Oakland Feminist Women’s Health Center. In 1980, Pat founded the Black Women’s Revolutionary Council with the mission to educate and instill awareness of racism and sexism.
She also helped to found the Women’s Press Collective.
In 1985, Pat traveled to Ghana and Kenya with the United Nations. She then testified at the U.N. regarding the state of women around the globe.
In 1988, Pat retired from work due to her terminal breast cancer. She passed away the next year on June 19, 1989 at the age of 45.
Pat Parker worked tirelessly for herself and for other women to live lives free from oppression. Her commitment to feminism, civil and queer rights were deliberate acts of revolution. She found strength through immense political and social vulnerability.
All month, we’re talking about iconic queer women.
For more on why we’re doing what we’re doing, check out our newsletter Womannica Weekly.
Follow us on facebook and instagram @encyclopediawomannica.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
As always, we’ll be taking a break for the weekend. Talk to you on Monday!