Today I dove deeper into Parker’s collection looking to find answers to previous questions that I held. I feel as though I am getting a better grasp of understanding her literary choices such as titles and even secret innuendos that hide between lines/stanzas. I am still finding the common themes of race, sex, violence and beauty, but there is much much more than that going much more deeper. While reading Parker’s collection we are able to see how these topics intersect, as mentioned in my previous post. We are able to see, even though some may not understand, her experience as a black woman. It is one thing to be black and another to be a woman, two experiences. I believe that Parker is able to articulate these two experiences coming together effortlessly. It is easy to forget that the identity of being black occurs outside of the identity of being a woman, especially in the movement of feminism. I wonder, myself, how to shape my voice to articulate this as well in a way that I feel will do the experience true justice or in a way that is relatable to other black women since not all experiences are the same.
What to a slave is the fourth of july.
What to a woman is a vote.
What to a slave is river water.
What to a slave is an award show.
What to a slave is fine china.
— “The Gospel According to Her”
I questioned in my last post the author’s ties to Beyonce and why she was often mentioned. I felt confused by the titles and also analogies. I provided myself to research and question why such comparisons may be made and I found that it was much easier to make sense of than I thought. Whether or not her music is preferred, Beyonce is a huge staple in black culture and culture in general. A black woman being a staple in black culture is more widely accepted (at some points) than she is widely accepted in the general culture. She is subject to more ridicule (by both), watched with a close eye, and almost unhuman(which the public has made her seem). Would these thoughts and actions from the public still be present if Beyonce were white? This calls for the question of biases. I now see how this topic ties into Parker’s collection and how it ties into the themes that I previously listed.
She preforms and the coverage is breezy:
What rosy cheeks what milky vacancy
Her daughter learns about beauty
Discovers nothing surprising
— “White Beyonce”
Poems I have read: “Freaky Friday Starring Beyonce and Lady Gaga”, 13 Ways of Looking at a Black Girl”, “The Book of Negroes”, “The Gospel According to Her”, “Black Woman with Chicken”, “The Gospel of Jesus’s Wife”, “White Beyonce”, “The President’s Wife”, “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Beyonce Touring in Asia, Breaks Down in a White Tee”, What Beyonce Won’t Say on a Shrink’s Couch”, “Ain’t Misbehavin”