Anne Reed

AFA Journal staff writer

September 2015 – By the mid-1990s, an epidemic was rapidly deconstructing the American family, and minority households seemed to be the main object of its wrath. The unlikely cancer was spreading like wildfire especially in our nation’s poorest communities.

Star Parker, a passionate young political activist, knew something had to be done to stop it. She knew the crippling effects of government dependency personally. She had been confined to its sickbed of self-destruction for seven years.

Parker had been out of control – going to school during the day, sneaking out at night, partying, and participating in robberies. She found herself repeatedly pregnant and had four abortions. When she became pregnant the fifth time, she decided to keep her child. (Below) 

As an activist, Parker appeared on the Oprah Winfrey program to garner public support for a comprehensive welfare reform package while building awareness about traditional values, limited government, and free markets as the greatest benefit to low-income Americans. In the process, millions of viewers were exposed to an opposing narrative pushed by Winfrey – accusations of starving women and children being kicked to the street. 

Parker left the set that day both disheartened and determined. “I knew those women she was talking to (her audience) were going to be very afraid,” Parker told AFA Journal. “And so I made a decision to get out in front of that message and get information to the black church that welfare had indeed become a cancer. And we needed to do what any good doctor would do – remove the cancer.”

So in 1995, Parker founded the Coalition for Urban Affairs, through which she organized conferences with pastors to teach them about the need for welfare reform. The coalition continued to grow in numbers and influence. Eight years ago Parker moved to Washington, D.C., expanded the mission, and changed the name. Today, explained Parker, “Center for Urban Renewal and Education is more than just a gathering of pastors, activism, and reacting to policies; we are actually getting in there and changing the policies.” 

The nonprofit think tank known as CURE fights poverty and restores dignity through faith, freedom, and personal responsibility that, according to Parker, uses a three-pronged approach: 

▶  A media center gets the message out.
▶  The clergy center educates pastors.
▶  A policy center gets the work done. 

Many claim morality cannot be legislated, but Parker argues that behavior is legislated by changing public policy. “Twenty-five percent of the black community didn’t wake up one day and say, ‘Let’s go live on welfare,’” she explained. “They changed the law. They told people, ‘You don’t have to be responsible with your choices anymore – you have a safety net.’ So people began to get involved in these safety net programs, and next thing you know, their behaviors changed. We have a society that has begun to pay people to have babies outside marriage. And then next thing you know, marriage collapses.” 

Similarly, the legalization of abortion changed the way millions began to think and behave. “I’m not convinced by anyone that we would have over a million abortions a year if the law didn’t change,” Parker said. “The law says you can go to that debased part of yourself, and we’ll protect it.” 

While the culture has increasingly been moving deeper into a secular worldview, Parker boldly encourages fellow believers to accept personal responsibility: 

▶  Read and have your children read a chapter from Proverbs every day to develop a biblical worldview.
▶  Get your children out of the “cesspool” of public schools as quickly as possible. 
▶  Get behind and become a part of at least one cause that lines up with a biblical worldview. Everyone can do something.

“Individually, we can try to live a good life in a terrible culture, to keep our kids away from absolutely everything so they won’t get this worldview on them,” said Parker. “But we can’t. You would have to go underground to do that. So we have to change public policy. The battle is in the public square.” 

Confrontation leads to Parker’s conversion
In a search for cash income to supplement her monthly welfare check, Star Parker applied at an advertising agency. But the three agency owners explained they ran a legitimate business that didn’t pay under the table. 

One of the owners confronted her: “Your lifestyle is unacceptable.” 

“Unacceptable to who?” she demanded. 

“Unacceptable to God,” he responded.

Parker recalled, “Up until that point I had never thought about God. And I had never thought about God thinking about me.”

One of the business owners followed up with her during her pregnancy and showed up at the hospital after her emergency C-section. He told her that God loved her. But Parker couldn’t understand how that could be true. 

After the birth of her daughter, she continued to party while living on welfare. But that Christian man from the ad agency kept calling and telling her, “God loves you.”  

Finally she agreed to go to church with him. She experienced peace and order for the first time in her life. 

“It became crystal clear that I needed Christ,” explained Parker. “I knew I had sinned, but I had to be forgiven of something really deep when abortion was mentioned. Because now we were talking about the taking of a life, and that’s when I realized I really did need to be saved – and not just saved from hell. I needed to be saved from myself.”

As Parker attended church services and Bible studies, she became convicted of behaviors in her life. And one day the preacher said from the pulpit, “What are you doing living on welfare? The government is not your source.” Parker was humbled as she turned to Philippians 4:19 and read, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

“So I wrote my case worker and told her to take my name off,” she said matter-of-factly. “God delivered me. He has recovered my life. And I’m confident that if He could do it for me, He could do it for somebody else. It’s not just something somebody told me, and I’m making it up as I go along.” 

Parker has since earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business from Woodbury University. Today, she works regularly with federal and state legislators to fight poverty with free-market strategies. She has received multiple awards for her public policy initiatives. 

Parker is also a leading pro-life advocate who joins in the sentiment of Silent No More, a ministry trying to make abortion not just illegal, but unthinkable. 

She is a nationally syndicated columnist and author who is regularly invited by national media outlets as an expert guest and has spoken at more than 190 colleges and universities. 

• Find her books and resources at CURE.
• Hear Star Parker at AFA Retreat at the Cove, September 28-30. For more information and to register, visit thecove.org or call 800-950-2092.
• Listen to Star Parker’s testimony of God’s saving grace at youtube.com.

• More about CURE 
202-479-2873
1317 F Street NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20004