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<span><a href="https://www.blackagendareport.com/author/ Editors, The Black Agenda Review"> Editors, The Black Agenda Review</a><br></span></div><div class="gmail-author-details"><br><span></span>
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29 Jun 2022
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<div class="gmail-field gmail-field--name-body gmail-field--type-text-with-summary gmail-field--label-hidden gmail-field--item"><p><em>A 1980 speech by Black lesbian poet and activist Pat Parker provides a feminist, anti-imperialist blueprint for the present.</em></p>
<p>In 1980, the late Texas-born, Oakland based Black lesbian poet and activist Pat <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/pat-parker" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">Parker<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a> gave a speech at<em> </em><a href="http://collections.museumca.org/?q=collection-item/201054612" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">¡Basta! Women's Conference On Imperialism And Third World War<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>.
Held over three days in August at the YWCA in Oakland, the national
conference was organized to examine “the relationship of imperialism to
the women's movement, national liberation struggles, war preparations
and U.S. military build-up.” Titled “Revolution: It’s Not Easy, Quick,
or Pretty,” Parker’s speech analyzed those relationships with the same
uncompromised intensity, verve, and clarity <a href="https://lambdaliterary.org/2017/01/the-complete-works-of-pat-parker-edited-by-julie-r-enszer/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">as her<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a> <a href="https://therumpus.net/2017/06/09/the-complete-works-of-pat-parker/" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">poems<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>.
In the speech, Parker shows herself to be a militant, unabashed
anti-imperialist. She rejects patriotism while naming the ethical and
political contradictions of being a Black citizen of an imperialist
state. She refuses co-option and misdirection and reformism and
“counter-revolutionary bullshit,” of middle class white feminism and
insists that revolution is only possible if left by the “poor and
working class of this country.”At the same time, she reognizes that the
poor and working class are “oppressed throughout the world by
imperialist powers.”</p>
<p>Parker also demands that we not settle for limited political and
economic gains at home that come through the extension of the
war-machine abroad: “I do not wish to have the world colonized,
bombarded and plundered in order to eat steak.” And while Parker argues
that imperialism everywhere is in a state of crisis, she also cautions
that building revolutionary societies is not a quick, short-term project
but it requires tireless labor and long-term commitment.</p>
<p>First published in the<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Bridge_Called_My_Back" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Bridge_Called_My_Back" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank">important anthology<span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a><a href="https://monoskop.org/images/f/f5/Moraga_Cherrie_Anzaldua_Gloria_eds_This_Bridge_Called_My_Back_Writings_by_Radical_Women_of_Color_3rd_ed_2002.pdf" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a><a href="https://monoskop.org/images/f/f5/Moraga_Cherrie_Anzaldua_Gloria_eds_This_Bridge_Called_My_Back_Writings_by_Radical_Women_of_Color_3rd_ed_2002.pdf" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank"><em>This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color</em><span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a><em>, </em>edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Parker’s speech is prescient – and timely. We reproduce it below.</p>
<p><font size="4"><strong>Revolution: It’s Not Easy, Quick, or Pretty</strong></font></p>
<p>Pat Parker</p>
<p>I have been to many conferences: People’s Constitutional convention
in Washington, D.C., Women’s Conference on Violence in San Francisco,
Lesbian conference in Los Angeles, International Tribunal on Crimes
Against Women in Belgium. I’ve been to more conferences than I can name
and to many I would like to forget, but I have never come to a
conference with as much anticipation and feeling of urgency.</p>
<p>We are in a critical time. Imperialist forces in the world are
finding themselves backed against the wall; no longer able to control
the world with the threat of force. And they are getting desperate. And
they should be desperate. What we do here this weekend and what we take
from this conference can be the difference, the deciding factor as to
whether a group of women will ever again be able to meet not only in
this country, but the entire world. We are facing the most critical time
in the history of the world. The superpowers cannot afford for us to
join forces and work to rid this earth of them, and we cannot afford not
to.</p>
<p>In order to leave here prepared to be a strong force in the fight
against imperialism we must have a clear understanding of what
imperialism is and how it manifests itself in our lives. It is perhaps
easier for us to understand the nature of imperialism when we look at
how this country deals with other countries. It doesn’t take a great
amount of political sophistication to see how the interest of oil
companies played a role in our relationship with the Shah’s Iran. The
people of Iran were exploited in order for Americans to drive gas
guzzling monsters. And that is perhaps the difficult part of imperialism
for us to understand.</p>
<p>The rest of the world is being exploited in order to maintain our
standard of living. We who are 5 percent of the world’s population use
40 percent of the world’s oil.</p>
<p>As anti-imperialists we must be prepared to destroy all imperialist
governments; and we must realize that by doing this we will drastically
alter the standard of living that we now enjoy. We cannot talk on one
hand about making revolution in this country, yet be unwilling to give
up our video tape records and recreational vehicles. An anti-imperialist
understands the exploitation of the working class, understands that in
order for capitalism to function, there must be a certain percentage
that is unemployed. We must also define our friends and enemies based on
their stand on imperialism.</p>
<p>At this time, the super powers are in a state of decline. The
Iranians rose up and said no to U.S. imperialism; the Afghanis and
Eritreans are saying no to Soviet-social imperialism. The situation has
become critical and the only resource left is world war between the U.S.
and the Soviet Union. We are daily being given warning that war is
imminent. To some people, this is no significant change, just
escalation. The Blacks, poor whites, Chicanos, and other oppressed
people of this country already know we’re at war.</p>
<p>And the rest of the country’s people are being prepared. The media is
bombarding us with patriotic declarations about “our” hostages and
“our” embassy in Iran. This government is constantly reminding us of our
commitment to our allies in Israel. Ads inviting us to become the few,
the chosen, the marines or fly with the air force, etc. are filling our
television screens.</p>
<p>And it doesn’t stop there. This system is insidious in its
machinations. It’s no coincidence that the “right wing” of this country
is being mobilized. Media sources are bombarding us with the news of KKK
and Nazi party activity. But we who were involved in the civil rights
movement are very familiar with these tactics. We remember the
revelations of FBI agents, not only infiltrating the Klan but
participating in and leading their activities. And we are not for one
moment fooled by these manipulations.</p>
<p>The Klan and the Nazis are our enemies and must be stopped, but to
simply mobilize around stopping them is not enough. They are
functionaries, tools of this governmental system. They serve in the same
way as our armed forces and police. To end Klan or Nazi activity
doesn’t end imperialism. It doesn’t end institutional racism; it doesn’t
end sexism; it does not bring this monster down, and we must not forget
what our goals are and who our enemies are. To simply label these
people as lunatic fringes and not accurately assess their roles as part
of this system is a dangerous error. These people do the dirty work.
They are the arms and legs of the congressmen, the businessmen, the
Tri-lateral Commission.</p>
<p>And the message they bring is coming clear. Be a good American —
Support registration for the draft. The equation is being laid out in
front of us. Good American = Support imperialism and war.</p>
<p>To this, I must declare — I am not a good American. I do not wish to
have the world colonized, bombarded and plundered in order to eat steak.</p>
<p>Each time a national liberation victory is won I applaud and support
it. It means we are one step closer to ending the madness that we live
under. It means we weaken the chains that are binding the world.</p>
<p>Yet to support national liberation struggles alone is not enough. We
must actively fight within the confines of this country to bring it
down. I am not prepared to let other nationalities do my dirty work for
me. I want the people of Iran to be free. I want the people of Puerto
Rico to be free, but I am a revolutionary feminist because I want me to
be free. And it is critically important to me that you who are here,
that your commitment to revolution is based on the fact that you want
revolution for yourself.</p>
<p>In order for revolution to be possible, and revolution is possible,
it must be led by the poor and working class of this country. Our
interest does not lie with being a part of this system, and our
tendencies to be co-opted and diverted are lessened by the realization
of our oppression. We know and understand that our oppression is not
simply a question of nationality but that poor and working class people
are oppressed throughout the world by imperialist powers.</p>
<p>We as women face a particular oppression, not in a vacuum but as a
part of this corrupt system. The issues of women are the issues of the
working class as well. By not having this understanding, the women’s
movement has allowed itself to be co-opted and mis-directed.</p>
<p>It is unthinkable to me as a revolutionary feminist that some women’s
liberationist would entertain the notion that women should be drafted
in exchange for passage of the ERA. This is a clear example of not
understanding imperialism and not basing one’s political line on its
destruction. If the passage of the ERA means that I am going to become
an equal participant in the exploitation of the world; that I am going
to bear arms against other Third World people who are fighting to
reclaim what is rightfully theirs — then I say Fuck the ERA.</p>
<p>One of the difficult questions for us to understand is just “what is
revolution?” Perhaps we have had too many years of media madness with
“revolutionary eye make-up and revolutionary tampons.” Perhaps we have
had too many years of Hollywood fantasy where the revolutionary man
kills his enemies and walks off into the sunset with his revolutionary
woman who has been waiting for his return. And that’s the end of the
tale.</p>
<p>The reality is that revolution is not a one step process: you fight —
you win — it’s over. It takes years. Long after the smoke of the last
gun has faded away the struggle to build a society that is classless,
that has no traces of sexism and racism in it, will still be going on.
We have many examples of societies in our lifetime that have had
successful armed revolution. And we have no examples of any country that
has completed the revolutionary process. Is Russia now the society that
Marx and Lenin dreamed? Is China the society that Mao dreamed? Before
and after revolution there must be education, and analysis, and
struggle. If not, and even if so, one will be faced with coups,
counter-revolution and revision.</p>
<p>The other illusion is that revolution is neat. It’s not neat or
pretty or quick. It is a long dirty process. We will be faced with
decisions that are not easy. We will have to consider the deaths of
friends and family. We will be faced with the decision of killing
members of our own race.</p>
<p>Another illusion that we suffer under in this country is that a
single facet of the population can make revolution. Black people alone
cannot make a revolution in this country. Native American people alone
cannot make revolution in this country. Chicanos alone cannot make
revolution in this country. Asians alone cannot make revolution in this
country. White people alone cannot make revolution in this country.
Women alone cannot make revolution in this country. Gay people alone
cannot make revolution in this country. And anyone who tries will be
unsuccessful.</p>
<p>Yet it is critically important for women to take a leadership role in
this struggle. And I do not mean leading the way to the coffee machine.</p>
<p>A part of the task charged to us this week-end is deciding the
direction we must take. First I say let us reclaim our movement. For too
long I have watched the white-middle class be represented as my leaders
in the women’s movement. I have often heard that the women’s movement
is a white middle class movement.</p>
<p>I am a feminist. I am neither white nor middle class. And the women
that I’ve worked with were like me. Yet I am told that we don’t exist,
and that we didn’t exist. Now I understand that the racism and classism
of some women in the movement prevented them from seeing me and people
like me. But I also understand that with the aid of the media many
middle class women were made more visible. And this gave them an
opportunity to use their skills gained through their privilege to lead
the movement into at first reformist and now a counter-revolutionary
bullshit.</p>
<p>These women allowed themselves to be red-baited and dyke-baited into
isolating and ignoring the progressive elements of the women’s movement.
And I, for one, am no longer willing to watch a group of self-serving
reformist idiots continue to abort the demands of revolutionary thinking
women. You and I are the women’s movement. Its leadership and direction
should come from us.</p>
<p>We are charged with the task of rebuilding and revitalizing the
dreams of the 60’s and turning it into the realities of the 80’s. And it
will not be easy. At the same time that we must weed reformist elements
out of our movement we will have to fight tooth and nail with our
brothers and sisters of the left. For in reality, we are “all products
of a decadent capitalist society.”</p>
<p>At the same time that we must understand and support the men and
women in national liberation struggles — the left must give up its
undying loyalty to the nuclear family. In the same way it is difficult
for upper and middle class women to give up their commitment to the
nuclear family, but the nuclear family is the basic unit of capitalism
and in order for us move to revolution it has to be destroyed. And I
mean destroyed. The male left has duped too many women with cries of
genocide into believing it is revolutionary to be bound to babies. As to
the question of abortion, I am appalled at the presumptions of men. The
question is whether or not we have control of our bodies which in turn
means control of our community and its growth. I believe that Black
women are as intelligent as white women and we know when to have babies
or not.</p>
<p>And I want no man regardless of color to tell me when and where to
bear children. As long as women are bound by the nuclear family
structure we cannot effectively move toward revolution. And if women
don’t move, it will not happen.</p>
<p>We do not have an easy task before us. At this conference we will
disagree; we will get angry; we will fight. This is good and should be
welcomed. Here is where we should air our differences but here is also
where we should build. In order to survive in this world we must make a
commitment to change it; not reform it — revolutionize it. Here is where
we begin to build a new women’s movement, not one easily co-opted and
mis-directed by media pigs and agents of this insidious imperialist
system. Here is where we begin to build a revolutionary force of women.
Judy Grahn in the “She Who” poems says, “When she who moves, the earth
will turn over.” You and I are the she who and if we dare to struggle,
dare to win, this earth will turn over.</p>
<p>Pat Parker, “Revolution: It’s Not Easy, Quick, or Pretty,” in<a href="https://monoskop.org/images/f/f5/Moraga_Cherrie_Anzaldua_Gloria_eds_This_Bridge_Called_My_Back_Writings_by_Radical_Women_of_Color_3rd_ed_2002.pdf" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank"> <span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a><a href="https://monoskop.org/images/f/f5/Moraga_Cherrie_Anzaldua_Gloria_eds_This_Bridge_Called_My_Back_Writings_by_Radical_Women_of_Color_3rd_ed_2002.pdf" rel="nofollow" class="gmail-0" target="_blank"><em>This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color</em><span class="gmail-0"><span class="element-invisible"> </span></span></a>, edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa (Persephone Press, 1981; Kitchen Table: Women of Color Press, 1983).</p>
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