by Pat Parker
perverse
and we are perverse.
Every time we watched
a queer hassled in the
streets and said nothing –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we lied about
the boyfriend or girlfriend
at coffee break –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we heard,
“I don’t mind gays
but why must they
be blatant?” and said nothing –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we let a lesbian mother
lose her child and did not fill
the courtrooms –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we let straights
make out in bars while
we couldn’t touch because
of laws –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we put on the proper
clothes to go to a family
wedding and left our lovers
at home –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we heard
“Who I go to bed with
is my personal choice –
it’s personal not political”
and said nothing –
It was an act of perversion.
Every time we let our straight relatives
bury our dead and push our
lovers away –
It was an act of perversion.
And they will come.
They will come for
the perverts
& it won’t matter
if you’re
homosexual, not a faggot
lesbian, not a dyke
gay, not queer
It won’t matter
if you
own your business
have a good job
or are on S.S.I.
It won’t matter
if you’re
Black
Chicano
Native American
Asian
or White
It won’t matter
if you’re from
New York
or Los Angeles
Galveston
or Sioux Falls
It won’t matter
if you’re
Butch, or Fem
Not into roles
Monogamous
Non Monogamous
It won’t matter
If you’re
Catholic
Baptist
Atheist
Jewish
or M.C.C.
They will come
They will come
to the cities
and to the land
to your front rooms
and in your closets.
They will come for
the perverts
and where will
you be
When they come?
Questions
“Until all oppressed people
are free –
none of us are free.”
I.
the chains are different now –
lay on this body strange
no metal clanging in my ears
chains laying strange
chains laying light-weight
laying credit cards
laying welfare forms
laying buying time
laying white packets of dope
laying afros & straightened hair
laying pimp & revolutionary
laying mother & daughter
laying father & son
chains laying strange –
strange laying chains
chains
how do i break these chains
II.
the chains are different now –
laying on this body strange
funny chains – no clang
chains laying strange
chains laying light-weight
chains laying dishes
chains laying laundry
chains laying grocery markets
chains laying no voice
chains laying children
chains laying selective jobs
chains laying less pay
chains laying girls & women
chains laying wives & women
chains laying mothers & daughters
chains laying strange
strange laying chains
chains
how do i break these chains
III.
the chains are still here
laying on this body strange
no metal – no clang
chains laying strange
chains laying light-weight
chains laying funny
chains laying different
chains laying dyke
chains laying bull-dagger
chains laying pervert
chains laying no jobs
chains laying more taxes
chains laying beatings
chains laying stares
chains laying myths
chains laying fear
chains laying revulsion
chains laying strange
strange laying chains
chains
how do i break these chains
IV.
the chains are here
no metal – no clang
chains of ignorance & fear
chains here – causing pain
how do i break these chains
to whom or what
do i direct pain
Black – white
mother – father
sister – brother
straight – gay
how do i break these chains
how do i stop the pain
who do I ask – to see
what must i do – to be free
sisters – how do i break your chains
brothers – how do i break your chains
mothers – how do i break your chains
fathers – how do i break your chains
i don’t want to kill –
i don’t want to cause pain –
how –
how else do i break – your chains
i have a dream
no –
not Martin’s
though my feet moved
down many paths.
it’s a simple dream –
i have a dream
not the dream of the vanguard
not to turn this world –
all over
not the dream of the masses
not the dream of women
not to turn this world
all
over
it’s a simple dream –
In my dream –
i can walk the streets
holding hands with my lover
In my dream –
i can go to a hamburger stand
& not be taunted by bikers on a holiday
In my dream –
i can go to a public bathroom,
& not be shrieked at my ladies –
In my dream –
i can walk ghetto streets
& not be beaten up by my brothers.
In my dream –
i can walk out of a bar
& not be arrested by the pigs
I’ve placed this body
placed this mind
in lots of dreams –
in Martin’s & Malcolm’s –
in Huey & Mao’s –
in George & Angela’s –
in the north & south
of Vietnam & America
& Africa
i’ve placed this body & mind
in dreams –
dreams of people –
now i’m tired –
now you listen!
i have a dream too.
it’s a
simple dream.
MOVEMENT IN BLACK
Movement in Black
Movement in Black
movement in Black
can’t keep em back
movement in Black
I.
They came in ships
from a distant land
bought in chains
to serve the man
I am the slave
that chose to die
I jumped overboard
& no one cried
I am the slave
sold as stock
walked to and fro
on the auction block
They can be taught
if you show them how
they’re strong as bulls
and smarter than cows.
I worked in the kitchen
cooked ham and grits
seasoned all dishes
with a teaspoon of spit.
I worked in the fields
picked plenty of cotton
prayed every night
for the crop to be rotten.
All slaves weren’t treacherous
that’s a fact that’s true
but those who were
were more than a few.
Movement in Black
Movement in Black
Can’t keep em back
Movement in Black
II.
I am the Black woman
& I have been all over
when the colonists
fought the British
i was there
i aided the colonist
i aided the British
i carried notes,
stole secrets,
guided the men
& nobody thought
to bother me
i was just a
Black woman
the britishers lost
and I lost,
but I was there
& I kept on moving
I am the Black woman
& i have been all over
i went out west, yeah
the Black soldiers
had women too,
& i settled the land,
& raised crops & children,
but that wasn’t all
I hauled freight,
& carried mail,
drank plenty whiskey
shot a few men too.
books don’t say much
about what I did
but I was there
& I kept on moving.
I am the Black woman
& i have been all over
up on platforms & stages
talking about freedom
freedom for Black folks
freedom for women
In the civil war too
carrying messages,
bandaging bodies
spying and lying
the south lost
& i still lost
but I was there
& i kept on moving
I am the Black woman
& I have been all over
I was on the bus
with Rosa Parks
& in the streets
with Martin King
I was marching
and singing
and crying
and praying
I was with SNCC
& i was with CORE
I was in Watts
when the streets
were burning
I was a panther
in Oakland
in new york
with N.O.W.
In San Francisco
with gay liberation
in D.C with
the radical dykes
yes, I was there
& i’m still moving
movement in Black
movement in Black
can’t keep em back
movement in Black
III.
I am the Black woman
I am Bessie Smith
singing the blues
& all the Bessies
that never sang a note
I’m the southerner
who went north
I’m the northerner
who went down home
I’m the teacher
in the all-Black school
I’m the graduate
who cannot read
I’m the social worker
in the city ghetto
I’m the car hop
in a delta town
I’m the junkie with a jones
I’m the dyke in the bar
I’m the matron at a county jail
I’m the defendant with nothin’ to say.
I’m the woman with 8 kids
I’m the woman who didn’t have any
I’m the woman who’s poor as sin
I’m the woman who’s got plenty
I’m the woman who
raised white babies &
taught my kids to
raise themselves.
movement in Black
movement in Black
can’t keep em back
movement in Black
IV.
Roll call, shout em out
Phillis Wheatley
Sojourner Truth
Harriet Tubman
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Stagecoach Mary
Lucy Prince
Mary Pleasant
Mary McLeod Bethune
Rosa Parks
Coretta King
Fannie Lou Hamer
Marian Anderson
& Billies
& Bessie
sweet Dinah
A-re-tha
Natalie
Shirley Chisholm
Barbara Jordan
Patricia Harris
Angela Davis
Flo Kennedy
Zora Neal Hurston
Nikki Giovanni
June Jordan
Audre Lorde
Edmonia Lewis
and me
and me
and me
and me
and me
& all the names we forgot to say
& all the names we didn’t know
& all the names we don’t know, yet.
movement in Black
movement in Black
Can’t keep em back
movement in Black
V.
I am the Black woman
I am the child of the sun
the daughter of dark
I carry fire to burn the world
I am water to quench its throat
I am the product of slaves
I am the offspring of queens
I am still as silence
I flow as the stream
I am the Black woman
I am a survivor
I am a survivor
I am a survivor
I am a survivor
I am a survivor
Movement in Black.
BEING GAY
Move in darkness
know the touch of a woman
a wall of normalcy
wraps your body –
strangles
brightens
wrinkled ugliness
sin
fear
admissions
Two days later
you shudder
& take 2 aspirins
My lover is a woman
& when i hold her –
feel her warmth –
i feel good – feel safe
then/ i never think of
my families’ voices –
never hear my sisters say –
bulldaggers, queers, funny –
come see us, but don’t
bring your friends –
it’s okay with us,
but don’t tell mama
it’d break her heart
never feel my father
turn in his grave
never hear my
mother cry
Lord, what kind of child is this?
2.
My lover’s hair is blonde
& when it rubs across my face
it feels soft –
feels like a thousand fingers
touch my skin & hold me
and i feel good.
then/ i never think of the little boy
who spat & called me a nigger
never think of the policemen
who kicked my body and said crawl
never think of Black bodies
hanging in trees or filled
with bullet holes
never hear my sisters say
white folks hair stinks
don’t trust any of them
never feel my father
turn in his grave
never hear my mother talk
of her backache after scrubbing floors
never hear her cry –
ord, what kind of child is this?
3.
My lovers eyes are blue
& when she looks at me
i float in a warm lake
feel my muscles go weak with want
feel good – feel safe
Then/ i never think of the blue
eyes that have glare at me –
moved three stools away from me
in a bar
never hear my sisters rage
of syphilitic Black men as
guinea pigs –
rage of sterilized children –
watch them just stop in an
intersection to scare the old
white bitch.
never feel my father turn
in his grave
never remember my mother
teaching me the yes sirs & mams
to keep me alive –
never hear my mother cry,
Lord, what kind of child is this?
4.
And when we go to a gay bar
& my people shun me because i crossed
the line
& her people look to see what’s