President
Darren W. Parker
AV Human Relations Commission President
Darren Parker takes responsible citizenship very seriously. He has assisted the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission by leading the Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission to become a model for Community/Municipality collaboration in eliminating Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents. Determined to erase the reputation of the Antelope Valley as a place where White Supremacist groups reside and Hate crime is prevalent, Mr. Parker volunteers endless hours toward this end. His experience as an employee of SBC and the Communications Workers of America helped establish the toll-free Hate Crimes Hotline and website in the area.
Hotline: 1-877-7-AT PEACE
Website: www.avhrtf.org
Today, through his leadership, the Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission, has a membership that includes the Mayors of Lancaster and Palmdale, elected officials, representatives from the Los Angeles Sheriffs, Los Angeles District Attorney and FBI; Board of Supervisors liaisons; School Superintendents, Community based organizations, religious and educational institutions and community individuals. Mr. Parker always credits the members in working together to do whatever is necessary to get the communities at the North end of Los Angeles County to establish human relations programs that create a better quality of life for everyone.
Mr. Parker is an articulate speaker who conveys the message that Hate and Intolerance need to be eliminated. Working in collaboration with the schools, he has raised funds to support safe schools, “Increase the Peace Day”, teen summits addressing intergroup understanding and is often called to review legislation regarding Hate Crime issues.
Mr. Parker established a monthly valley-wide billboard campaign, which features messages and artwork created by the youth of the community in conjunction with “Increase the Peace Day” program. “Increase the Peace Day”, which occurred as an annual event between 2000 and 2003, pledged tolerance and built understanding between students in the Antelope Valley along with creating the nation largest human peace sign numbering over 3,000 students. Governor Davis recognized the event as the only one of its kind in the state. Most importantly, Mr. Parker established “Teen Summits” at our local high schools, in an effort to stem intergroup conflicts and to celebrate the diverse cultures of the Antelope Valley.
Noting that funding can sometimes be a problem area for community-based organization, Mr. Parker helped establish the AVHRTF as a non-profit corporation and solicited funding from private corporations such as Lockheed Martin, Pacific Bell, and Northrop.
It is Mr. Parker’s belief that in order to understand the problems of a community, one must have dialog with all groups and to that end, the task force has met with Klan members and other white Supremacist groups during the task force regular monthly meetings. With some of the task force meeting doubling as conflict resolution and peace making information forum, as in the case of the Christians vs. Wiccans.
In the wake of September 11, Mr. Parker put together a successful community response plan to address and investigate the hate incidents that occurred in the Antelope Valley, including working jointly with the Muslim community leaders to educate students at school assemblies.
Mr. Parker has also been honored by both California State Assembly and Senate Speakers with multi-signature House Resolutions, Anti-Defamation League, The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, Labor Unions and numerous Local, State, and Federal elected officials.
While testifying at the Congressional Forum on Law Enforcement Accountability, Robin Toma, Executive Director for Los Angeles County Commission of Human Relations stated that one of the critical components of any solution to having stronger police-community relations is:
“Creating ongoing mechanisms for police to learn about and understand the communities and people they serve.”
Mr. Toma stated in part: “An example is the Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission. Unlike many police community advisory committees which often exclude any critics of the agency, this Commission brings together monthly representatives of the Sheriff’s stations, local civil rights organizations, school and city officials, and interested individuals to discuss a wide array of human relations issues such as hate crimes, police-community conflicts, religious discrimination etc. It is often critical for the sake of credibility of these community-police human relations collaborative that the convening role be played by an entity other than the police, one that is seen as neutral, like a local human relations commission.”
Current Positions and Appointments
California Democratic Party Region 11 Director 34th, 36th, 59th AD
Board of Directors 50th Agricultural Association State of California Antelope Valley Fair
Board of Directors Antelope Valley Community College Foundation
Co-Founding member and Elected Co-Chair African American Community and Labor Leader Alliance (Congresswoman Waters co-chair) ACLLA
President, Antelope Valley Human Relations Commission
President and CEO – Antelope Valley Human Relations (non-profit)
Chairman Eugene Mays Committee CWA National Minority Caucus
Board of Directors Antelope Valley Mentoring Partnership
Board of Directors Antelope Valley Partners for Health
Delegate to the California State Democratic Party Central Committee 36th Assembly District
Executive Board California State Democratic Party 36th Assembly District
President Quartz Hill Youth Action Committee
Vice President Antelope Valley Democratic Club
Democratic Club of the High Desert Parliamentarian
Board of Advisors REACH (LA County Sheriff Advisory board)
NAACP
Boy Scouts of America of the Greater Antelope Valley
Past Positions and Appointments
Commissioner for the Department Children & Families, Los Angeles County (Supervisor M. Antonovich)
President NAACP Antelope Valley Chapter
Vice-President NAACP AV Chapter
Quartz Hill Town Council – Executive Board and Treasurer (retired)
Chair of Youth Improvement QHTC
Chair of Community Improvement QHTC
Chair of Community Relations QHTC
Vice President, CWA Local 9505
Chairman of Equity Local 9505
Chairman of MAP (Members Assistance Program) Local 9505
CWA Executive Board Local 9505
Area Steward for Operations Pacific Bell Local 9505
George Lane Park Board member
CWA District Steward Local 9400 – 800 employees
Education
National Labor College, Washington, D.C.
Minority Leadership Institute, George Meany Center for Labor Studies
CWA Staff School, George Meany Center for Labor Studies
Training and Expertise
Anger Management Education and Prevention
AFL-CIO Organizing Institute
Equity Training
Violence in the Workplace
Hate Crimes and Diversity Training
Problem Resolution
Mediation
Contract Bargaining/ Negotiations
Arbitrations
NLRB
State and Federal Labor Law
Legislation and Politics
Inter-group conflict
Voter Registration
Political Education Committees
Election Campaigning, Management, Phone Banking, Precinct Walking
Awards, Honors, and Commendations
Mr. Parker has received the following awards, honors, and commendations:
Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission
Volunteer of the Year, 2002
CAHRO California Association of Human Rights Organizations
Civil Rights Award, 2003
Lockheed Martin Aero-Palmdale
Outstanding Community Service Award, 2004
Los Angeles County Democratic Party
36th AD, Democrat of the Year, 2005
36th AD, Truman Award, Democrat of the Year, 2003
Los Angeles County Boy Scouts of America
Outstanding Volunteer, 2003
Antelope Valley Interfaith Council
Certificate of Recognition, 2002
County of Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations
Volunteer of the Year 2001 – 2002
Honorary Chief of the Los Angeles Police
Chief Bernard Parks
Hero of the Community commendation
Supervisor Antonovich Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation, 2002
African American Community and Labor Leaders
“Visionary Award”, 2001
California State Assembly Speakers House Resolution
“Community Visionary”, 2001
California State Senate Speaker Pro Tem Resolution
“Community Visionary”, 2001
Numerous Special Congressional Recognition Certificates
“Community Visionary”
Numerous Certificate of Recognition California State Assembly
“Visionary”
Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation
“Volunteer of the Year”
Governor Gray Davis
Proclamation ITD, 2001
House Resolution (US Congress)
HR 113, “Increase the Peace”
Board of Supervisor, Los Angeles County
Proclamation
John Anson Ford Award, Business/Community
Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission
ADL Valley Mitzvah Award – Promoting Racial Harmony
Anti Defamation League, 1st Recipient
Pacific Telesis Award – Community Service
Pacific Bell
Supervisor Michael Antonovich – Commendation
Los Angeles County Sheriff Dept. – Commendation
Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles County – Commendation
Palmdale School District – Certificate of Recognition
Lancaster School District – Certificate of Recognition
County of Los Angeles – Supervisor Antonovich
Certificate of Recognition
Los Angeles Sheriff, Lee Baca
Certificate of Recognition
City of Lancaster – Certificate of Recognition
City of Palmdale – Certificate of Recognition
State Assemblyman George Runner
Certificate of Recognition
State Senate Pete Knight – Certificate of Recognition
House of Representative Buck McKeon
Certificate of Recognition