Derrick Parker, a first-generation college student from Kansas City, graduated from Harvard Law School on May 27. Parker, 24, made the proud announcement on his Facebook page.
“My name is Derrick Parker. I’m 24, and today, I graduate from Harvard Law School. I am my ancestors’ wildest dream. #BlackLawyersMatter #HarvardLaw #MamaWeMadeIt #Esquire#LawGraduate #StartedFromTheBottom.”
Parker’s father, Derrick Parker Sr., was a barber, and his mother, Nicole Courtney, worked as a machine operator. Before graduating from Harvard Law School, Parker first graduated at the top of his class from Morehouse College in 2018. He said that originally, he didn’t want to go to an HBCU and he was accepted into 19 colleges, including Columbia University, Georgetown and the University of Chicago.
He changed his mind after talking to a recruiter and learning that Morehouse was the alma mater of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., filmmaker Spike Lee and former Atlanta mayor Maynard Jackson. Parker also liked the idea of being around people with the same aspirations. “Being around people who looked like me and had similar ambitions appealed to me,” he said.
Parker won the Gates Millennium Scholarship which gave him a full ride to any college he chose.
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When he graduated from Morehouse, Parker gave an inspiring speech.
“In a world where minorities are still being disenfranchised, Morehouse men, we are needed,” he said. “In a world where poverty still runs rampant, brothers, we are needed. In a world were adequate health care is still not a reality, brothers, we are needed.”
While studying at Harvard, Parker was on the board of the Black Law Students Association. The Morehouse graduate was also a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and helped to represent indigent clients in Massachusetts.
Parker has also worked as an intern for the United States House Of Representatives, the Fulton County District Attorney’s office and the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Foundation during his college days.
Congratulations, counselor. We can’t wait to see what this young man does next
