Black History Today: Latanya and Charles Parker, a power couple of service
/Black History Today, created by Marcus Harden in honor of Black History Month, pays tribute to the living legacy of Black history in our community and beyond and recognizes the people shaping the future.
Presented in collaboration with the South Seattle Emerald.
“The true keys to loving someone are knowing how to care for someone, showing affection for the person, giving them respect, and being committed to making the relationship work. You also need honesty and openness if you want to succeed at love.”
By Marcus Harden
If you grew up a child of the ‘80s, you began to see the family dynamic for Black people on television change, thanks largely to an 8pm show on NBC. That show portrayed a middle-class Black family with a doctor and lawyer as the patriarch and matriarch, and children existing in a positive space, celebrating what it meant to be Black and proud. It showcased the trials and especially the triumphs of Black love.
That was Hollywood, however, and we’ve since learned how far short the show’s creator and namesake fell in real life of the standard he set on television.
Thankfully, many of us have had the privilege to witness examples of that positive, celebratory Black love in real life. While not as “glamorous” every day, it’s the reality of what Black love is that makes couples like Latanya and Charles Parker that much more inspiring. To me, they are the modern-day prototype, showing us with authenticity what it's like to love each other, their families, and their community.
Both Parkers are committed deeply to service to humanity through education, both being social servants turned educators. Charles is a former personal trainer, and Latanya has worked in all walks of social services, but in finding their way through education, they’ve shown what it means to be a power couple of service.
Charles isn’t hard to find, his gregarious laugh and welcoming spirit only trumped by his commitment to justice and service to what some would consider the “underdog.” Whether through his years of committed service to students furthest from educational justice or his current role as a student and family advocate, “Mr. Parker” has been a big brother, mentor and father figure for so many students who just needed to know that someone cared enough to be there for them every day.
Latanya is the embodiment of class and grace. Her mission and heart are in service to all young people, yet specifically young women who desire to be empowered and honored for who they are. Latanya’s early days found her as a support for strong leadership inside of a school setting. Understanding she wanted a larger platform to serve, she pushed herself to learn and grow, returning to school to earn her master’s degree in educational leadership, as well as her principal certification, allowing her to transcend her position and fully embody what educational leadership looks like as a powerful Black woman. She currently serves as assistant principal at Foster High School in Tukwila, Wash.
Together that should be enough, yet what truly sets them apart is how they model a true, resilient and patient respect and love for each other as a couple. While I shy away from letting other people become personal “goals,” they model what it means to do what Maya Angelou challenged us to do: “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”
They model this together and as parents to their brilliant and talented sons, as well as to the many for whom they are beacons in a perpetual storm, calling us to shore to remind us of the warmth and light of real love. They are caring, they are compassionate and they are true community servants – individually, yes, and even more powerfully together. They are Black History Today!
Original artwork created by Devin Chicras for the South Seattle Emerald.
