State Rep. Antonio Parkinson works hard for the people.

At the end of 2018, it never occurred to me that I'd be mentoring and advising, not one but two candidates for Memphis City Council. Both had little name recognition and were novices to the political process. However, both Rhonda Logan and Michalyn Easter-Thomas were bright and had servant hearts for the people. They'd shown their willingness to serve through countless volunteer hours that they provided throughout our communities.  Their service did not go unnoticed. Back in December of 2018, the city council district one seat became vacant. We lead our community and galvanized support for Rhonda Logan to take the open seat for the interim position. However, back door deals had been made to put someone else in the seat to represent us in district 1. We did not like it, nor did we appreciate the maneuverings there were taking place at Memphis city council to choose our representative for us. We were rejected, humiliated and embarrassed by the treatment of some of the sitting council members. But that rejection, humiliation, and embarrassment was the spark that was needed for us to mount a bid for city council for Rhonda Logan. That same energy was used to mount the city council bid for Michalyn Easter-Thomas also. With me as their advisors and mentors we were able to emerge victorious after a long election cycle, general election and run off election.

 I believe in mentoring the next generation of elected leaders for our community. This is exactly what took place and is taking place for our two new city council women. It has been my goal to surround myself with other elected officials who are like minded in our zeal for making communities better. At the end of the day we all believe it is our job to improve the quality of life for our citizens and constituents through good policy ideas and strategies. That is why I needed people like Michalyn Easter-Thomas and Rhonda Logan on the Memphis city council.

This is the type of unselfish leadership that we need to keep in place. When I initially ran, I ran on strong, decisive leadership. I am still committed to delivering the same.

Please support our efforts through a donation to our campaign for re election. Your continued prayers and support are a stilll needed for us to continue to move our communities forward. I thank you in advance.

98 year old Junius Puryear voted early last Friday at Dave Wells Community Center. In all of his 98 years and eligibility to vote, Mr. Puryear has only missed one vote. 

I met Mr. Puryear about a year or so ago. I was invited by Pastor and First Lady Robert Jones of Keel Avenue Baptist Church to present Mr. And Mrs. Puryear a state proclamation for 75 years of marriage. Mrs. Puryear has since transitioned from this life but their tradition of voting continues to go forth through Mr. Puryear. 

If Mr. Puryear, at 98 years old can see the importance of voting and make his way to the polls, there is no excuse for others not to vote. 

Help us in our efforts to continue to get out the vote so that seniors and disabled veterans like Mr. Puryear can receive the services and tax relief they deserve. 

First let me thank everyone for the birthday wishes that were sent to me via text, calls and social media. 

Having my 50th birthday yesterday really gave me a chance to reflect on my life and how blessed I am to be here. There have been so many of my friends that did not make it to this age. This also reminded me of why I fight for the lives of our youth and for them to have an equal chance at not just making it to 50 years but also success in this life. 

We still have a ways to go. That is why I need your help in getting re-elected. I want to continue to fight to improve the plight of the young people that come from communities like the ones I came from. 

You can be a major part of that effort with your campaign contribution. 

I thank you in advance for your support. 

Today I had the opportunity to have lunch with stylists and barbers from Memphis and Shelby County. During the lunch we discussed some of the issues the industry faced earlier this year with the threat of House Bill 1809 and a strategy moving forward. We also discussed healthcare for Tennesseans.  Lastly, we enjoyed great food at Miss Girlee's restaurant. 

The other exciting news is that the industry professionals present endorsed both myself for reelection to state representative and Craig Fitzhugh for governor. We support small and minority businesses. We support the professionals in the beauty industry. 

Don't let this election slip by without you being part of the movement. You can join us by voting early in this election and by making a small contribution so we can get people to the polls to vote. 

The barber shops and beauty salons hold a significant and special value in our communities. Not only can you get, as we say, "chopped up" properly and on the salon side, the ladies emerge with a renewed energy because the stylists behind the chairs put their professional energy behind making us look beautiful, but this is where I as an elected official can keep my ear to the ground and hear the uncut versions of what our citizens are dealin with. For example, it was in Distinguished Looks Salon where I first heard of a person having to pay child support for a child that DNA proved was not his. After hearing his story, I was moved into holding town hall meetings on child support to gather more information from more people. Through these town halls I quickly realized the child support is were severe and wide ranging for the child, mother and father. 

That same year I passed legislation capping back child support on NEW child support orders at five years so that both parents can be involved in the child's life. Prior to that a judge could order child support all the way back to the birth of the child. If a child was 14 years of age, a non custodial parent could walk out of the court room owing $40k or more in back child support. It is hard to recover from such an amount. This could lead to license suspension, jail time and more. Inside of the law we left room for both parties to make the argument why there should be more than five years or less when appearing before a judge. 

I love visiting our barber shops and salons. Visiting our shops keeps me accessible to our citizens physically. Not only do I get the chance to ear good music, laugh at the funny stories I hear but I am also informed about what's going on in our streets and in the households of our citizens. 

There are three things, that if acted upon, can change our communities to thriving communities.

1. Direct your spending in your community
2. Fathers take care of your children
3. VOTE!

In the video, I touch on the third directive of voting and the importance of voting. Watch the video, give me your feedback and share it with friends and family if you agree.

All I can say is...watch the video! Wow!

In May of 1986, after attending four high schools between my eleventh and twelfth grade years, I enlisted in the United States Air Force. I was in Port Arthur, Texas at the time after being kicked out of my second high school. 

Immediately after my senior year of high school, I enlisted in the United States Air Force.  I became close to my recruiter, a young staff sergeant who guided me through the process of the ASVAB test and additional paper work that was required. I would show up to the recruiter's office almost daily to hang out and assist him where I could to recruit other candidates to join. I was also homeless at the time and very thankful to an adult cousin named Charles who allowed me to live with him until it was time for me to leave for Air Force boot camp. We worked out a strategy that went like this: on the day I would leave for boot camp, he would fly to Kansas City to visit his family that he hadn't seen in a very long time. He purchased his ticket and set up his vacation to time with my departure to the Air Force. I really appreciated him for taking me on and my older brother (Drag) alike during this defining period of my life. 

The Day My Life Took a Turn

One day after showing up to my Air Force recruiters office as I normally did, there was a different recruiter in the office who I did not recognize. I asked him where my recruiter was and to my shock and disbelief he informed me that my recruiter was killed in a car accident the night before! My heart sunk to my stomach after hearing the news as I had become quite fond of my recruiter and we had began to forge a relationship. After a few minutes of the thought of the accident, it dawned on me that this could cause a delay in my leaving for the Air Force. I asked the recruiter what this meant for me leaving for boot camp and his response made me feel even sicker. He said, "Well obviously this puts everything on hold."  I immediately thought about my older cousin who I was staying with and his arrangements to go on vacation and that I would be homeless and in the streets again. I didn't know how to tell him. I felt like he had already done so much for us. But I told him anyway and understood when he told us he would have to lock his house up and we'd have to find another place to stay due to the delay. 

While the recruiter was discussing the delay with me, the Marine Corps recruiter was listening to the conversation we were having in the recruitment office hallway. After the Air Force recruiter went back into his office, the Marine Corps recruiter motioned to me to come into his office. For me it was always the Air Force or the Marine Corps. He sat me down at his desk and told me that he could get me out of there in a week and a half. He also said that he would have to transfer my test scores from the air force over to the Marine Corps and get me to sign some additional papers. I agreed to the deal with one extra caveat; he would have to fly me to bootcamp in San Diego but also fly my brother to Los Angeles to his father's house. He agreed to the deal. We drove from Port Arthur Texas to Houston Texas to find my mother to get her to sign the papers for me. I was set to go into the Marine Corps. The interesting thing about the deal was when I signed my contract to go into the Marine Corps I signed under an open contract which meant that they could give me any MOS or job that they saw fit for me to have. I was told that I was an alpha candidate based on my ASVAB scores. 

I left for boot camp in San Diego and my brother was flown back to LA to live with his father. The Marine Corps recruiter came through on all promises of the deal. While in bootcamp I excelled and was promoted meritoriously to private first class. I was also offered Officer Candidate School (OCS) while I was in boot camp. This would've required an additional 8 year commitment outside of the four-year commitment that I had already signed up for. They proposed to send me to college and Officer Candidate school based on my ASVAB scores. Boot camp was great for me! I excelled, met new friends, and went really hard because I felt that if I failed I would have been put outside of the gates and become homeless again. I was deathly afraid of being homeless again. On close to the last day of boot camp they began to read our orders and where we would be stationed. The orders were coded with a four digit number. All of the numbers were sounding the same as they read each individual's name and their MOS number. So I assumed that my number would be the same as most of the other numbers which were starting with 03. Most of the 03 MOS' were those for infantry and other things associated with fighting wars. When they got to my name, mine was coded with the number 73. The drill instructors looked around bewildered as I did  also and wondered what the 73 code meant. After a little research they realized that I was being sent to air traffic control School in Millington Tennessee. I had never heard of Millington and heard very little about Memphis. 

Needless to say, I was on my way to Memphis Tennessee. I went to air traffic control school and air crash firefighter school in Millington.  I did four years in the Marine Corps and got out. I would later be recalled and put on standby as part of the Desert Storm war campaign. 

As God would have it I became a Shelby County firefighter for 25 years and later became state representative in Memphis Tennessee for District 98. 

Happy Memorial Day everyone. God knew the plan. Semper fi!

You know my heart. You know my efforts. You know my fight. Help me to get back to the fight.

What would you like to see in an elected official?

• Would you like your elected official to be honest?
• Would you like your elected official to put people first?
• Do you want your elected official to fight for quality public schools?
• Do you want your elected official to fight for women's rights and equal pay?
• Do you want your elected official to be smart on crime?

Most voters want these qualities in an elected official...unfortunately, however, this is rarely what we get. However, State Representative Antonio Parkinson has all of these qualities and is a vocal and visible fighter for the people of District 98 and Tennessee. 

Help us to send Rep. Parkinson back to Nashville to continue to be the bold leader he has shown himself to be. 

Take a few seconds to donate to the campaign to re-elect State Representative Antonio Parkinson right now. 

We recently kicked our campaign off with the barber and cosmetology professionals. I am truly grateful for their support. 

In 2013 we were successful in passing legislation that allowed for the opening of free standing schools for natural hair, manicurosts and estheticians. The passing of this law allowed for students to decide their path and focus solely on their chosen specialty. Additionally, as part of this legislation, we included apprenticeships which allows students to go to work in a salon while they are still under the direction of the school. The passing of this law has led to many new businesses opening and new professionals entering the market. 

However, this year, a fight that took place in Nashville over House Bill 1809.  HB 1809 would have gutted the beauty, barber and natural hair industry in Tennessee by removing the license requirement for professional natural hair stylist while combining the license for barbers and cosmetologists. 

Most of the professional world of beauty and barbering were adamantly opposed to HB 1809 which was brought forth by Governor Haslam's administration. We fought vigourously against the legislation and were victorious! To put this in perspective, while I was part of the victory, credit for the win belongs to the many professional barbers, stylists and owners who showed up to the capitol to have their voices heard...and they were vocal! If you can imagine a football team...while I was the quarterback calling the play in the huddle, we couldn't score the touchdown without great blocking, a fast running back, a receiver who could catch the ball and a well designed play or strategy. This is TEAMWORK at it's best. 

The fight continues. It is expected that legislation will be brought forth again in the next session. I want to be there to insure that the integrity of the cosmetology industry in Tennessee remains intact. Please make a donation to the campaign so that we can keep the Tennessee barber and beauty industry intact in Tennessee. 

Sincerely,

Rep. Antonio Parkinson

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When the Tennessee Republican controlled legislature tried to make felons out of our locally elected city council and county commission if they voted to remove confederate statues and monuments, it State Rep. Antonio Parkinson who had the courage to lead the charge to stop the proposed legislation. (See the viral video)

We need elected officials that are willing to stand up for the people. Please make a donation in the name of courage! 

Let's return Representative Antonio Parkinson, a courageous leader back to Nashville to continue the fight.