This object consists of an interview transcript of Pat Parker conducted by Joseph Beam, both prominent black homosexual writers, and activists. In this dynamic conversation, they discuss how to progress in black liberation with a movement plagued by sexism, homophobia, inaction/complacency, and classism.

First sharing her thoughts on complacency within the movement, Pat Parker addresses the reality that many people are comfortable with the status quo. They would like to maintain their standard of living, even if it’s within the current system of government. She also addresses the false sense of total and complete unity within the black community. Using Wilt Chamberlain as an example, Parker argues that the inherent desire to protect one’s own money and success is what allows classism to affect the political ideology of black people. “What we tend to do is talk about black people as this conglomerate ball or something, which really doesn’t exist,” she says. Turning this conversation to the exclusion of factions of the black community, Parker says “I grew up hearing there was no such thing as black homosexuals… we find it very convenient to just ignore those parts of the black community that we don’t like.” This is a sentiment shared by other prominent black homosexual activists, such as Audre Lorde who stated in Zami, “we knew there was a world of our experience as gay-girls that they left out, but that meant we had to write it ourselves, learn by living it out” (213). Parker’s experience with homophobia at Forum 85 in Kenya further confirms this erasure of homosexuals and their experience within the movement, as openly lesbian attendees were forced to leave and Parker had to exclude her identity from her application. In addition, Parker’s feminist conscious is evident throughout the transcript, including as she speaks on the repressive experiences of women at the conference. Her description of the forced separation of politics from the discussion on women empowerment at the conference exemplifies this conscious.