Lizette Parker (August 31, 1971 – April 24, 2016) was an American
politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck, New Jersey was incorporated on February 19, 1895. It was created in Chapter
XXVII in the ''Acts of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey'' in 1895. The office of mayor did not initially exist as such. In 1895, the Township Act ...
, from 2014 until her death in April 2016. Parker was the first
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
woman to serve as Mayor of Teaneck, as well as the first black woman to serve as the mayor of any municipality in
Bergen County
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.most populous county. Coincidentally, she succeeded former Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin, who became the first Muslim to become the Mayor of a Bergen County community in 2010.
Early life and family
Parker was born in Harlem, New York City to Dolores-Ann and Lawrence Phillips, and she was raised in Teaneck, New Jersey. She graduated from
Teaneck High School
, motto_translation = To enrich the mind and improve the character
, fundingtype = Public
, schooltype = high school
, grades = 9– 12
, district = Teaneck Public Schools
, enrollment = 1,239 (as of 2021–22)
, faculty = ...
. She received her
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
from
Montclair State University
Montclair State University (MSU) is a public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, the second largest public university in New ...
. She also earned a
master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
in administrative science from
Fairleigh Dickinson University
Fairleigh Dickinson University is a private university with its main campuses in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Founded in 1942, Fairleigh Dickinson University currently offers more than 100 degree programs to its students. In addition to its tw ...
. Parker worked as a case worker and
social work
Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...
supervisor at the Bergen County Board of Social Services from 1992 until 2016. She had served on the Teaneck Township Council from 2006 until her death in 2016.
She was married to Anthony Parker The couple had one daughter, Alyssa, four-year-old at the time of her mother's death.
Mayoralty
Parker was re-elected to the council in the Teaneck
municipal election
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
on May 13, 2014, receiving the most votes of any member of the council. The choice of mayor in Teaneck is made among council members, and Parker, who served as deputy mayor from 2006 to 2010, the 2010 election was contentious. Traditionally, the council chose the member with the highest vote total in the election to serve as mayor. Estina Baker, president of the Bergen County chapter of the NAACP, said the sentiment against choosing Parker was a matter of "race and gender," and Parker made the same allegation in an "unusually impassioned" speech. After the election, parker and Hameeduddin, who was chosen mayor despite having garnered fewer votes, worked together in a coalition that dominated the City Council.
In 2007, as deputy mayor, Parker performed the ceremony for the first
same-sex civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
in New Jersey.
On July 1, 2014, the council unanimously elected Parker as the Mayor of Teaneck. She was sworn into the office at the same meeting. Parker became not only the first African-American female mayor of Teaneck, but also the first black woman to serve as Mayor of any municipality in
Bergen County, New Jersey
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
's call to ban all Muslim immigration in the United States.
Death
Parker
died in office
A death in office is the death of a person who was incumbent of an office-position until the time of death. Such deaths have been usually due to natural causes, but they are also caused by accidents, suicides, disease and assassinations.
The dea ...
after a respiratory illness at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey, on April 24, 2016, at the age of 44. She had recently suffered from cancer. Her current term as mayor would have expired on July 1, 2016. Teaneck
Deputy Mayor
The deputy mayor (also known as vice mayor, assistant mayor, or mayor ''pro tem'') is an elective or appointive office of the second-ranking official that is present in many, but not all, local governments.
Duties and functions
Many elected dep ...
Paramus, New Jersey
Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
. 600 people attended the funeral.
Legacy
A street in Teaneck is named in her honor. A room at the Teaneck library was named in her honor.
The local chapter of the
NAACP
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
created the "Lizette Parker Trailblazer Award".
The
Urban League
The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...
of Bergen County created a scholarship fund to pay for the education of Parker's daughter.
See also
*
List of first African-American mayors
The first African American mayors were elected during Reconstruction in the Southern United States beginning about 1867. African Americans in the South were also elected to many local offices, such as sheriff or Justice of the Peace, and state ...