 Pat was my roommate, or I was her roommate in the 80s or late 70s, I guess it was, 70s. And she was a very good cook and what I discovered, her family is from Texas as is my family. And so we had a lot of Texas stories that we shared and we also learned things about each other that you don't necessarily share with everyone. We both had an affinity for country western music. And if you are an African American lesbian activist feminist, you don't tell people that you like helping me make it through the night. We both loved Jack Daniel's black label and we would sit in the dining room and Pat would clean 10 to 15 pounds of chitlins and however long it took her to clean those chitlins is how many bottles of Jack Daniel's we would consume between the two of us. We had a real good time but I am here to tell you today that you are all really blessed that I do not drink Jack Daniel's any longer and haven't for a very long time. Pat and I talked about lots and lots of things. We talked about parents. We talked about parenting during the time of the Oakland Feminist Women's Health Center. We even did pelvic exams on each other. That was during the My Body Myself movement. Now I know that there are women of color in the room who thought to some of that was really pretty fucking strange. Speculum. Yes. We lay on the floor in a line, the victim and the inspector, oh, your cervix is tilted. Okay. And what am I to do about that? And then you change positions and then you become the inspector and the other person becomes the victim and you're looking there going, ooh, babies come out of there. It was an amazing world and amazing time. And I can truly say that Pat Parker taught me how to be a lesbian and that's really the truth. I needed lesbian lessons because I didn't know how. How do you be a lesbian? You become aware that you are a woman-loving woman, but then you have to know how to love a woman. And if you don't know how to love a woman, somebody has to talk to you about that. And someone also has to accompany you when you buy your first pair of fried boots. So Pat took me to this store up on Telegraph Avenue and we bought each of us two pairs of fried boots, one pair with laces and one pair without. And she'd say, twi! Because you know, Pat was a runaway soprano. I formed a gospel ensemble, a lesbian gospel ensemble of the most no singing women you've ever heard in your life. And Pat was the leader of the soprano section. And she would always sing her part an octave higher than the soprano was supposed to sing. So it'd be like, you know, we call sopranos in the Baptist churches, wobble sisters. Like the wobble sister would sing the tonic all the way through with this wide vibrato. Well, Pat would be, you know, up there, and I'd say, Patricia Ann, she did not let many people call her that. But we had a wonderful time. We raised a lot of money in this organization, hente, hente, hente. She played softball and basketball. Yes, and I remember one day that Linda Keller knocked the ball out of my hand and I thought, she ain't tall enough to be doing that, you know. I do not recall. Yeah, so I quit. I quit there. I don't like to lose. Anyway, we're going to do this poem. The first time that this poem was read was during the Varied Voices of Black Women's tour of which Pat and I and Vicki Randall and Alberta Jackson, Mary Watkins, thank you, Colleen Stewart. Weren't you on that tour, Colleen? Yeah, Colleen Stewart and Gwen Avery, yes, Gwen Avery. Well, I got some stories bug wind, too. People better hope I don't write that memoir, because I know some shit, man. I'm sorry, my sister. I just had to expound. Okay, thank you. Movement in black. Movement in black. Can't keep them back. Movement in black. Movement in black. Movement in black. Can't keep them back. Movement in black. Movement in black. Movement in black. They came in ships from a distant land. Can't keep them back. Bought in chains to serve the man. Movement in black. I am the slave that chose to die. I jumped overboard and no one cried. Movement in black. I am the slave sold as stock. 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 them back, movement in black. I am the black woman, and I have been all over when the colonists fought the British. I was there, I aided the colonists, I aided the British, I carried notes, stole secrets, guided the men, and nobody thought to bother me. I was just a black woman, the Britishers lost, and I lost. But I was there, and I keep on moving. I am the black woman, and I have been all over. I went out west, yeah, the black soldiers had women too, and I settled the land and raised crops and children, but that wasn't all. I hauled fright and carried mail, drank plenty whiskey, shot a few men too. Books don't say much about what I did, but I was there, and I keep on moving. I am the black woman, and I have been all over up on platforms and 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, and I still lost. But I was there, and I kept on moving. I am the black woman, and I have been all over. I was on the bus with Rosa Parks, and in the streets with Lawton King. I was marching and singing and crying and playing. I was with Snick, and I was with Cor. I was in Watts where the streets were burning. I was a Panther in Oakland, in New York with Now, in New York with Gay Liberation, in D.C. with Radical Dykes. Yes, I was there, and I'm still moving. 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 the Jones. I'm the dyke in the bar. I'm the matron at a country jail. I'm the defendant with nothing to say. I'm the woman with eight kids. I'm the woman who didn't have any. I'm the woman who's as poor as sin. I'm the woman who's got plenty. I'm the woman who raised white babies and taught my kids to raise themselves. Can't keep them back. Movement in black. Movement in black. Movement in black. Can't keep them back. Movement in black. Roll call. Shout them out. Phyllis Wheely. Sojourner, true. Movement in black. Harriet Tubb. Movement in black. Francis Ellen Hunt. Movement in black. Ellen Watkins Harpman. Can't keep them back. Stage coach, movement in black. Lucy Prince. Movement in black. Mary Pleasant. Movement in black. Mary McLeod Bethune. Can't keep them back. Rosa Parks. Movement in black. Karate King. Movement in black. Fannie Lou Haynes. Movement in black. Mary Ann Anderson. Can't keep them back. And Billy. Movement in black. And Bessie. Movement in black. Sweepnerina. Ariba. Can't keep them back. Natalie. Movement in black. Shirley Chis gilt. Movement in black. Barbara Jordyn. Movements in black. Patricia Herr. Can't keep them back. Angela Davis. Movements in black. Flo Okeneck. When. Movement in black. Zora Nell Hurston. Can't keep them back. Niki Giovanni. Movement in black. June George. Movement in black. Audrey Lloyd. Movement in black. Edmonia Lewis. Can't keep them back. Movement in black. And me! And knee. me and me and me and all the names we forgot to say and all the names we didn't know and all the names we don't know yet movement in black movement in black can't keep them back movement in black I am the black woman movement I am the child of the sun the daughter of dark I carry fire to turn 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 silent I flow as the stream I am the black woman movement in black I am a survivor I am a survivor I am a survivor I am a survivor I am a survivor movement in black