By Pam Hersh
We still have a choice today: nonviolent co-existence or violent co-annihilation. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community. Martin Luther King Jr., Princeton officials have chosen community over chaos. At the end of 2016, they established, actually re-established, the Princeton Civil Rights Commission whose mission is all about strengthening community by making civil rights and civility a top priority., Even though all the appointees to the commission seem spectacularly suited for serving as the advocates for Princeton residents on issues related to civil rights, one individual Thomas A. Parker (a.k.a. “Tommy”) particularly embodies the concept of community. The 64-year-old, life-long Princetonian has been working on building community in Princeton for 45 years. He started engaging with the community in 1972 as program director at the Paul Robeson Youth Center. The job launched his passion for community service that has manifested itself in various roles — mentoring, coaching, problem solving and advocating, especially in the area of housing., I got to know Mr. Parker in the early 1990s when we both served as commissioners — he was chair — on the original Joint Princeton Civil Rights Commission. In 1998, its mission was subsumed under the newly created Princeton Human Services Commission with broader responsibilities for youth, senior citizens, and local assistance recipients., I was struck then, as I am now, how there was/is nothing self serving or egotistical or narcissistic in Mr. Parker’s desire to be responsive to those in the community who felt “wronged” by a specific incident, or wronged by a general societal attitude. All he has ever wanted to do was to make things “right” for others., The rebirth of the Civil Rights Commission “has occurred at the best possible time, considering the current divisive political climate in the nation with so many concerns in the area of civil rights,” Mr. Parker said. “People should know that the commission is not just about black and white relationships. We intend to be a broad civil rights, social justice advocate for all races and all ages in the areas of housing, employment and education. Also, we will be concerned about opportunities not only for the low- and low-low-income citizens, but also the middle class, which in Princeton is really struggling.”, Mr. Parker is the father of six, grandfather of four, and the husband of one Joanne Parker, a special education aide for the Princeton Regional School District, who Mr. Parker calls a “fabulous person, my best friend.” He honed his leadership and negotiating skills at Princeton University, where he has worked for the past 39 years. He has two responsibilities at the university, overseeing campus mail operations and serving as president of Local 175 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest of the five labor unions on campus., “My union job definitely contributed to skills in communicating and negotiating that serve me well in my community service jobs. It has provided a real education,” said Mr. Parker, who attended Rutgers and Northeastern University, but never finished his degree, something he intends to pursue this year., At the 2011 Princeton University Martin Luther King Jr. Day ceremony, Mr. Parker received the Journey Award for Lifetime Service for his role as an advocate and adviser to co-workers and for his dedication to community service., “Like Dr. King, he has given eloquent expression to the needs and aspirations of those whose voices often go unheard, while simultaneously building bridges between labor and management…” said former Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman, as she presented Mr. Parker with the Journey Award., In addition to acknowledging his community-building efforts at the university, the award also considered Mr. Parker’s “tireless” community service efforts off campus. He has coached local sports teams for more than 30 years; co-founded Committed Princetonians, a youth mentoring and educational support program for the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood; advocated for the interests of local senior citizens and youth as the human services commissioner for Princeton; facilitated dialogues on race relations, police and community relations, and the minority achievement gap, among other activities., “Tommy’s determination to help his neighbor, his community and his nation fulfills the ideals and vision of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and it reminds us of Dr. King’s words,” Pierre Joanis, then-director of client services in the Office of Human Resources, wrote in nominating Tom Parker for the Journey Award., Those words: “All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and its importance should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
