Parker was born Larstella Irby in Moses Lake, Washington; she was raised in a nonreligious home by often-absent parents. She lived in Japan for three years and returned to the U.S., moving to East St. Louis, Illinois, at twelve. She said that after one arrest for shoplifting, her white high school guidance counselor told her "not to worry about it, because I was a 'victim of racism, lashing out at society.'" After attending church at the behest of her friends, Parker became a Christian and reformed her life. She enrolled in Woodbury University, graduating with a degree in marketing. She began advocating for conservative social and political causes, and founded CURE in 1995. After she was laid off from her job as a program host on Los Angeles radio stationKABC, Parker devoted her efforts to CURE full-time.
Center for Urban Renewal and Education
In 1995, Parker founded the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education, and later changed its name to the Center for Urban Renewal and Education. Located in Washington, D.C., CURE is a policy-oriented and politically conservative think-tank; Parker serves as its president.
Activities
Parker has been a syndicated columnist with the Creator's News Syndicate. Her column is carried weekly by newspapers across the country and opinion sites such as Townhall. She was a guest on the TV program Politically Incorrect. In 2017, Star Parker joined the White House Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives advisory team to share ideas on which policies would improve the nation's most distressed zip codes. In 2018, she was appointed by Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell to the U.S. .
Views
Parker supports welfare reform measures, claiming that welfare has become like a government plantation, which creates a situation where those who accept the invitation switch mindsets from "How do I take care of myself?" to "What do I have to do to stay on the plantation?". She believes stable families and strong moral values are the key to ending poverty. She has asserted a moral objection to abortion and claims that rampant abortion has hurt black families. She opposes abortion, divorce, same-sex marriage and birth control.
Congressional campaign
In March 2010, Parker announced her candidacy for Congress in California's 37th District, which encompasses most of Long Beach and Compton, as well as Carson, Signal Hill, and parts of other municipalities. She lost the November 2 general election to DemocratLaura Richardson, earning 22.7 percent of the vote.
Books
1998: Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger
2003: Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It
