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| Raphael Parker (GAL ’03) |
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Some people march or picket to support a cause. Others write their legislators or sign petitions. Raphael Parker (GAL ’03) packs up his gear, hops on his bicycle, and hits the open road. As a cyclist-advocate, Parker raises awareness about issues by biking across the country, instructing people while he pedals for change.
It began simply enough. One afternoon in the spring of 2004, Parker learned that a co-worker was not registered to vote. He left work and biked from Midtown Manhattan to the downtown Board of Elections, returning with registration forms for other unregistered colleagues. He soon took to the subways with a prepared speech, urging fellow New Yorkers to get registered. Later that year, he planned a 2,000-mile bike ride down the Atlantic coast to Florida, meeting up with cyclist Mei Mei Hu and partnering with her organization Ride for Change. Ride for Change registered 2,000 voters during its two-month journey south. “You exude good health and high adventure,” Parker says, finding that people respond to that image and approach him on the road to find out what he’s up to. “Cycle activism is unique because you’re able to talk to people who aren’t receptive to progressive causes.”
Parker’s latest project is immense in scope, but very precise in its intent. With Tour for Equality, he has been biking across the U.S. and will hopefully continue on through East Asia to show that men can take a stand on women’s rights issues. When searching for his next cause, he found himself skipping over women’s rights, thinking he couldn’t relate to it and that it was somehow separate from him. He then thought, “If I’m skipping over this, I wonder how many other people are doing the same thing.” In the U.S., he has been lecturing at schools on how young men can “use their strengths to protect rather than abuse.” In Asia, Parker hopes to join groups on speaking out against the trafficking of women and girls in the sex trade. The ride, which kicked off its U.S. leg on March 7, will wrap up in Asia in August if adequate funding is received.
While his energy is primarily focused on making Tour for Equality a reality, Parker is looking ahead to law school, and he says NYU School of Law is his first choice. Having already discovered “the power of the cyclist-advocate,” he hopes to effect change through the legal system. But for now, he plans on getting as much mileage as he can out of the 1974 bike he purchased for $175.00, a small investment that Parker says has paid off. “The wonderful thing about being on a tour . . . is there are so many people who want to show kindness,” Parker says. “It brings out the best in people.”
Interested sponsors can visit his Web site at www.tourforequality.org to pledge their financial support.
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