This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. 

Join Charis, ZAMI NOBLA, and Sinister Wisdom for a morning celebration of the 10th Anniversary of The Complete Works of Pat Parker. Featuring readings of her work by: SaraEllen Strongman, Briona Simone Jones, Frances Wood, Bettina Judd, Stahimili Mapp, and Charlene Carruthers. LeConté Dill will be the opening poet, reading from her book, Soul Survivors, which is in the lineage of Pat Parker. This event is part of our celebration of the National Women's Studies Association Conference and Charis' 52nd birthday weekend (Nov. 5-9th). The weekend's events are co-sponsored by Sinister Wisdom. Check the calendar for all events.

During her lifetime, Pat Parker (1944-1989) was a renowned African-American, lesbian-feminist poet and performer. She was the author of Jonestown & Other Madness (1985), Movement in Black (1978, 1983, 1989, 1999), Womanslaughter (1978), Pit Stop (1974, 1975), and Child of Myself (1972, 1974). Her poems appeared in numerous journals, newspapers, and anthologies. With Judy Grahn, she recorded the album Where Would I Be Without You (Olivia Records, 1976), and one of her spoken poems appeared on the album Lesbian Concentrate.

She performed live readings at numerous colleges and universities throughout the United States and abroad. Her work is often included in Women's Studies curricula.

Parker was born in Houston, TX, in 1944 and moved to Los Angeles, CA after she graduated high school. She lived in the San Francisco bay area from 1965 until her death. Parker died in 1989 from complications of cancer. Her partner of nine years, Martha Dunham, and their daughter, Anastasia Dunham-Parker-Brady, survived her as well as Cassidy Brown whom she co-parented.

SaraEllen Strongman is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies at the University of Michigan. She was previously an LSA Collegiate Fellow in the department for AY 2018-2020. SaraEllen researches and teaches in the fields of Black Feminism, African American literature, and Gender and Sexuality Studies. SaraEllen received her Ph.D. in Africana Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Briona Simone Jones is the Audre Lorde Visiting Professor of Queer Studies at Spelman College. She is a Black lesbian feminist of Jamaican and African American descent from Rochester, New York, and the editor of Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought.

Tajh Martin is founder of @livinglesbianarchive, a Black lesbian zine-making and scrapbooking club documenting the lives of Black lesbians in NYC, ATL & DC.

Frances E. Wood is a scholar and educator; her work reflects a profound commitment to justice and the transformative power of ideas. A feminist and womanist thinker with both depth and breadth of knowledge, she brings together intellectual rigor, lived experience, and spiritual insight in ways that shape institutions, communities, and individual lives. Frances has taught at the University of Washington, Agnes Scott College, Spelman College, and Emory University, where she has inspired students through her dynamic engagement with theology, ethics, gender, and social justice. She is the author of “Take My Yoke Upon You: The Role of the Church in the Oppression of Black Women”, in the collection A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Perspectives on Evil & Suffering, edited by Emilie M. Towns; a work that reflects her sustained interrogation of faith, power, and the lived experiences of Black women. Her scholarly work has engaged the thought of Audre Lorde and includes contributions on Catholicism and Anti-Catholicism in the Encyclopedia of Religion.

Bettina Judd is an interdisciplinary writer, artist and performer whose research focus is on Black women's creative production and use of visual art, literature, and music to develop feminist thought. Her book Feelin: Creative Practice, Pleasure, and Black Feminist Thought (Northwestern University Press, December 2022) argues that Black women’s creative production is feminist knowledge production produced by registers of affect she calls “feelin.” She is currently Associate Professor of African American Studies at Emory University.

Stahimili Paulette Mapp is a retired high school and college science educator. Stahimili now spends her time working in the community and is a Board member or the LGBT Kwanzaa Community as well as Zami NOBLA: National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging. In another life Stahimili worked and Managed NKIRU Books in Brooklyn, NY and is currently a member of the steering committee for The National Black Writers Conference at Medgar Evers College. Stahimili indulges her creative spirit by designing jewelry and painting in water color.

Charlene A. Carruthers, PhD (she/her) is a writer, filmmaker, community organizer, and Black Studies scholar. A practitioner of telling more complete stories, her work examines Black placemaking, Black feminist literatures, and abolition. Charlene’s work spans more than 20 years of community organizing across racial, gender, and economic justice movements. She served as the founding national director of BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100), and is author of the bestselling book, Unapologetic: A Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements.

Sinister Wisdom is a multicultural lesbian literary & art journal founded in 1976. Sinister Wisdom works to create multi-class, multicultural, multi-gender, multi-racial, world-wide intergenerational queer and lesbian spaces. Through publishing quarterly issues, a Sapphic Classics book series, and offering educational programs, Sinister Wisdom nurtures lesbian communities. Sinister Wisdom is a living archive that celebrates the multiplicity of lesbian identities across races, classes, genders, abilities, and lived experiences. Sinister Wisdom recognizes the power of language and art to create radical, empowering, resilient, and joyous sanctuaries that build and sustain vibrant lesbian futures.

ZAMI NOBLA (National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging) is a national organization committed to building a strong and sustainable base of power for Black lesbian feminists aged 40 and older. Our mission is clear: to advance health/wellness, housing/food justice, movement work, education, and community-engaged research that centers the lives, experiences, and leadership of Black lesbians as we age. We exist to confront and disrupt the systems that have historically marginalized our voices, and to affirm the wisdom, creativity, and resilience of our communities.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website.

Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. 

In-person event guidelines:

We will begin seating people at 10:00 AM ET.

This event will be live-streamed via Crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.

As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.

If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact info@charisbooksandmore.com or call the store at 404-524-0304.

Please contact us at info@chariscircle.org or 404-524-0304 if you would like ASL interpretation at this event. If you would like to watch the event with live AI captions, you may do so by watching it in Google Chrome and enabling captions: Instructions here. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to info@chariscircle.org.

By attending our event, whether in person or virtually, you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Unsolicited sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to Charis staff immediately or email info@chariscircle.org

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of The Complete Works of Pat Parker