Tribute to Everett Parker

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Rev. Dr. Everett C. Parker passed away early in the morning on Sept 17 at the age of 102. He was the first director of Communications in 1957 for the newly-formed United Church of Christ. In that role he founded the United Church of Christ, Office of Communication, Inc, a media reform and accountability ministry with a civil rights agenda, that worked to improve the coverage and employment of women and people of color in broadcasting and other media. Dr. Parker was named one of the most influential men in broadcasting by the trade publication Broadcasting Magazine and is featured Museum of Broadcast Communications Encyclopedia of Television.

"We will always be grateful for Dr. Parker's role in bringing community voices to federal agencies. Much of the successful activism today related to Internet openness and media consolidation traces back to Dr. Parker's work in the 1950s and 1960s," noted Earl Williams, chair of UCC OC Inc. Before the litigation brought by UCC OC Inc. against the Federal Communications Commission in a famous duo of cases known as UCC v. FCC, ordinary people had no right to file comments or register their views at the FCC. Williams explained, "the millions of people who asked the FCC to protect net neutrality [in 2014] can credit Dr. Parker and his work at UCC OC Inc. for their right to do so."


Tribute to Everett Parker FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Statement on the Passing of Rev Dr Everett Parker (FCC Chairman Wheeler Statement) FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn Statement on the Passing of Rev Dr Everett Parker (FCC Commissioner Clyburn Statement) Public Knowledge Honors the Memory of Dr. Everett Parker (Public Knowledge) Everett Parker Dies at 102 (Broadcasting & Cable) Tributes Continue for Dr. Everett Parker (Broadcasting & Cable) Everett C. Parker, Who Won Landmark Fight Over Media Race Bias, Dies at 102 (New York Times)