Michelle Parkerson

Lest We Forget

These 
black, brown, beige faces
of the least in life
took the streets
defied empires
woman to woman
man to man
It began ablaze
high tacky queens
blood-soaked crinolines
tear gas
mace
A few fearless freaks:
flip, flamboyant
fed up
on police brutality
the menace of the vice
Spontaneous riots bushfire
round Stonewall Bar

Meanwhile
the 6 o’clock news brings you
the blatant courage 
of the fag frontline
America discovers sexual preference
still believes in Rock Hudson
It is 1969
Black and Puerto Rican sodomites
proud leather dykes
in a faceoff with the world
for 3 nights
Greenwich Village is a mine field
Are you there?

Let us now praise
a few good women and men
ripe for insurrection
one chafed June night
pushed to the wall
beaten to shadows
cutting back the night
These, the fringe
black, brown, beige faces
of the least in life
ignited a movement 
to love in the light

Are you there?

Michelle Parkerson is a writer, educator, and award-winning filmmaker based in Washington, DC.  Her work has screened at prestigious international festivals including The Sundance Film Festival, The Berlin Film Festival, and AFI Fest.  She has documented LGBTQ icon Audre Lorde, jazz innovator Betty Carter, acappella activist Sweet Honey in the Rock, and legendary male impersonator, Storme’ DeLarverie.  Michelle has served on the faculties of Northwestern University, Temple University, Howard University, and University of Delaware as well as the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs Advisory Committee and the Board of Mary’s House for Older Adults, Inc.