Top 2 Quotes & Sayings by Pat Parker

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American poet Pat Parker.
Last updated on November 8, 2024.
Pat Parker

Pat Parker was an American poet and activist. Both her poetry and her activism drew from her experiences as an African-American lesbian feminist. Her poetry spoke about her tough childhood growing up in poverty, dealing with sexual assault, and the murder of a sister. At eighteen, Parker was in an abusive relationship and had a miscarriage after being pushed down a flight of stairs. After two divorces she came out as lesbian "embracing her sexuality" and said she was liberated and "knew no limits when it came to expressing the innermost parts of herself".

If I could take all my parts with me when I go somewhere / and not have to say to one of them, ‘No, you stay home tonight, you won’t be welcome’/ because I’m going to an all-white party where I can be gay but not Black / Or I’m going to a Black poetry reading, and half the poets are anti-homosexual / or thousands of situations where something of what I am cannot come with me / The day all the different parts of me can come along / we would have what I would call / a revolution
The first thing you must do is forget that I'm Black. Second, you must never forget that I'm Black. — © Pat Parker
The first thing you must do is forget that I'm Black. Second, you must never forget that I'm Black.
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