Star Parker

Star Parker (born Larstella Irby, October 23, 1955) is an American conservative political activist, syndicated columnist, author, and television host. In 1995, she founded the Center for Urban Renewal and Education (CURE), a Washington, D.C.–based public policy institute that advocates faith-based, market-oriented approaches to poverty, family policy, and urban renewal.

Parker was a featured speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention and consulted with federal and state legislators on the market-based welfare reforms that became law in 1996. She has been honored as the Conservative Political Action Conference's "Ronald Reagan Foot Soldier of the Year" (2016) and was appointed to the U.S. Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2018 and to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights California Advisory Committee by President Donald Trump in 2020.

Early life Parker was born Larstella Irby on October 23, 1955, in Moses Lake, Washington. She has written and spoken extensively about a turbulent young adulthood in Los Angeles in which she relied on public assistance for several years. Parker has recounted that, after an arrest for shoplifting, a high school guidance counselor told her "not to worry about it, because I was a 'victim of racism, lashing out at society.'"

Media and commentary Parker writes a nationally syndicated weekly column distributed by Creators Syndicate, with placements in outlets including Townhall.com, Newsmax, The Epoch Times, RealClearPolitics, and over 100 local newspapers. She is a frequent guest commentator on Fox News (including Fox & Friends and Hannity), Newsmax, and EWTN, and contributes weekly segments to Straight Arrow News. She has lectured on more than 300 college and university campuses, including Harvard, the University of California, Berkeley, Emory, Liberty, Franciscan, and Pepperdine. activist Grover Norquist, and then–House Minority Whip Steve Scalise.

Government service and recognition Parker was a featured speaker at the 1996 Republican National Convention in San Diego, where she addressed welfare reform and personal responsibility. The same year, she was named to the advisory team of the White House Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, advising on policies for distressed communities.

In 2020, President Donald Trump appointed Parker to a two-year term on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights California Advisory Committee.

Parker has stated that stable two-parent families and a culture of personal responsibility are central to ending generational poverty. She opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, and the use of federal tax dollars to fund birth control, and has written extensively against what she describes as the cultural and economic costs of family breakdown in African-American communities.

2010 congressional campaign In March 2010, Parker announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in California's 37th congressional district, which then encompassed most of Long Beach and Compton, along with Carson, Signal Hill, and surrounding municipalities. She lost the November 2 general election to Democratic incumbent Laura Richardson, receiving 22.7 percent of the vote.

2026 congressional campaign In 2025, Parker announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in California's 49th congressional district, a coastal seat covering portions of northern San Diego County and southern Orange County held by Democrat Mike Levin. Parker competed in the June 2, 2026, top-two primary alongside Levin and other candidates. She was eliminated in he primary.

Books 1997: Pimps, Whores and Welfare Brats: From Welfare Cheat to Conservative Messenger (Pocket Books, ) 2003: Uncle Sam's Plantation: How Big Government Enslaves America's Poor and What We Can Do About It (Thomas Nelson, ) — critique of long-term welfare programs. 2006: White Ghetto: How Middle Class America Reflects Inner City Decay (Thomas Nelson, ). 2014: Blind Conceit: Politics, Policy and Racial Polarization: Moving Forward to Save America (Sumner Books, ). 2019: Necessary Noise: How Donald Trump Inflames the Culture War and Why This Is Good News for America (with Richard Manning; Center Street, )