The Black lesbian poet & activist who preached intersectionality before the word even existed - LGBTQ Nation

"Brother I don't want to hear about how my real enemy is the system. I'm no genius, but I do know that system you hit me with is called a fist. The line captured Parker's political stance rejecting arguments that sexism should be ignored because racism was the 'real' political struggle, insisting instead on the simultaneous reality of multiple oppressions."

Pat Parker was a Black lesbian poet born in Houston, Texas in 1944 who emerged during the civil rights era. Growing up in a segregated, economically excluded neighborhood shaped by her working-class family's experiences, Parker developed a political perspective centered on intersecting oppressions. She survived sexual assault and domestic violence, experiences she refused to hide in her poetry. Parker's work directly confronted racism, violence against women, lesbian identity, and systems of power, rejecting polite language that softened discussions of abuse. Decades before intersectionality became mainstream political discourse, her poetry demonstrated how race, gender, sexuality, and class operated together. Her confrontational approach to uncomfortable truths remains relevant today as women's rights and LGBTQ+ protections face renewed political challenges.

Read at LGBTQ Nation