Patricia (Cooks) Parker (1944 - 1989)

Born 20 Jan 1944 in Houston, Harris, Texas, United States

Died 17 Jun 1989 at age 45 in Oakland, Alameda, California, United States

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Biography

Pat (Cooks) Parker is Notable.

Pat Parker was an African-American poet, author and activist.^[1]

Patricia Cooks was born in Houston, Texas in 1944. She was the daughter of Ernest Cooks and Marie Anderson.

In the 1950 US Census Patricia (age 6) was the daughter of Earnest Cooks in Harris, Texas, United States.^[2]

Tributes

The Pat Parker/Vito Russo Center Library[permanent dead link] in New York City is named in honor of Parker and fellow writer, Vito Russo.

The Pat Parker Poetry Award is awarded each year for a free verse narrative poem or dramatic monologue by a black lesbian poet.

In 2004, composer Awilda Villarini used Parker's text for her song "Dialogue."^[3]

In June 2019, Parker was one of the inaugural fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City's Stonewall Inn.[27][28] The SNM is the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history,[29] and the wall's unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. ^[4]

She died of breast cancer in 1989.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Pat_Parker
2. ↑ "1950 United States Federal Census," database with images, Ancestry Sharing Link - (Ancestry Record 62308 #195235534 : accessed 5 October 2022), Patricia A Cooks (6), single daughter, in household of Earnest Cooks (40) in Harris, Texas, USA. Born in Texas; citing United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Washington, D.C., Seventeenth Census of the United States, 1950, Record Group Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790-2007, Record Group Number 29, Residence Date 1950, Home in 1950 Harris, Texas, Roll 2261, Sheet Number 67, Enumeration District 101-134.
3. ↑ Villarini album notes, quoting Donald Thompson in the San Juan Star.Villarini album
4. ↑ direct quote https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_Parker#Tributes

See also:

• https://elisa-rolle.livejournal.com/2135233.html
• Wikidata: Item Q7143899, en:Wikipedia