A Kansas City family reunites to do something that countless African Americans before them could not do—choose their own last name.
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00:00 [ Music ]
00:09 >> Harris Kids Interview, take one.
00:11 >> Say it.
00:13 >> You say it.
00:14 >> Oh my gosh.
00:15 >> Parker Kids Interview, take one.
00:18 >> The day that we found out that we was changing our last names was the same day we found
00:24 out that we was making a documentary about it.
00:26 >> A one, two, three.
00:29 [ Music ]
00:36 >> To me, what's in a name is your origin, where you come from, where you've been,
00:43 where you're going, legacy.
00:46 My name is Adolphus Parker III.
00:49 It was my grandfather's name and my dad's name, so, and I was pretty proud to be the third.
00:56 My name is Sedoria Nala Pickens Parker.
01:02 I'm going to do it again.
01:07 My parents mixed two names to get mine, my mother's two best friends, Sonora and Gloria,
01:18 except for an N, it's a D, so it's different.
01:22 >> That's Matt, when I wed, he was a three then?
01:27 >> Yeah, he was three.
01:28 >> Even though Matt's my biological son, he does not have my last name.
01:35 >> He's 42 now.
01:37 Doesn't seem like it's been 40 years.
01:41 >> It's 39 years since we got married, so we finally getting his name changed to Parker,
01:49 so it's going to be kind of a great, a big deal, I guess, after all this time.
01:57 >> The name that not only he deserves, but you deserve.
02:02 >> My name is Samuel Matthew Harris.
02:12 My name will be changed to Samuel Matthew Parker.
02:17 I finally get the connection to my dad in having that name.
02:22 >> After I die, there is no more Parkers, so that's why it's important for me
02:29 to have Matthew's last name changed to Parker.
02:32 >> I know you're a good painter, but I don't want you to make no mistake on my tape.
02:46 I'm actually happy about the way my kids are handling it.
02:49 They've got a good spirit about things all the time,
02:51 but they're eager and excited to have it done, too.
02:54 >> My name is Ashley Kaylin Harris.
02:57 My name will soon be Ashley Kaylin Parker.
03:00 >> My name is Cameron Allen Harris.
03:03 My name will soon be Cameron Allen Parker.
03:06 Having the same last name as our Pawpaw, it connects us.
03:10 >> Like, it makes us closer than we already were.
03:13 >> Right.
03:14 >> Parker definitely sounds different.
03:16 Like, I'm so used to Harris.
03:18 I've been using it all my life.
03:19 >> Your signature would change, too.
03:21 >> You'd have to change it on my jerseys.
03:23 >> How would we change our names on our phones?
03:26 >> I wonder what would happen if, like, somebody with a hyphenated last name married somebody
03:32 with another hyphenated last name.
03:34 Like, what would their last name be?
03:36 Would it be four names?
03:37 >> Would you end up being like, oh, we got to choose one name.
03:42 >> Having a different name from your father is strange.
03:47 When I was a teenager, friends come over and say, hey,
03:49 why is your dad's last name different than yours?
03:52 >> I don't really know how to explain how his name, well,
03:58 my dad's name came to be Harris instead of Parker.
04:02 I mean, there was a lot that had went with it.
04:04 >> This is hard.
04:08 >> I think it's harder for me to explain it because it didn't, like, the situation didn't,
04:15 like, it didn't involve me at all because I wasn't alive.
04:18 >> At the time I met Parker, we were both in the National Guard.
04:23 I was separated from my first husband.
04:26 I call him by his last name Parker because his name on his uniform was Parker.
04:32 >> I used to see you walk through the armory, you know, like, the little switch thing.
04:37 You got the, the way you walk.
04:39 >> His reputation did precede him.
04:43 At the time, he was a player, player.
04:46 He chased me.
04:48 And he chased for a while.
04:50 And finally, I let him catch me.
04:52 >> What, some years later, here we are.
04:55 >> The oldest picture is this one right here, 1980.
05:04 And this last one here is us out on the dance floor.
05:09 We were getting down.
05:11 At the time that I got pregnant, I didn't tell Parker that the baby was his.
05:18 My son had to have my first husband's name on the birth certificate
05:24 because we were still legally married.
05:26 >> When Matt was born, he was so light, I was wondering, this can't be my kid.
05:32 He's too light.
05:32 I said, well, whose baby is this?
05:34 He did.
05:35 Because the first thing I told him, he's not yours.
05:37 She says, my baby.
05:39 It didn't matter to me because I was going to take care of Matt like he was my own son anyway.
05:45 >> My biggest regret is waiting three years instead of telling him right off the bat that Matt was his son.
05:59 I was afraid to let him know because I thought he would take off.
06:04 I thought he would run.
06:05 I thought he would leave us.
06:06 I feel guilty because he would ask me and I would tell him no.
06:14 Little did I know he's been there for him and for us since the beginning.
06:19 >> I realized Matt was my son for sure when he was about three.
06:27 The kids, they were playing.
06:29 It's something about their arms, the way that they built his arms is just like his sister's, just like my daughter's arms.
06:38 And then I questioned her about it and I asked her.
06:41 I said, you sure he's not my son?
06:45 And then she finally told me.
06:46 >> Do you have a crooked pinky like them?
06:52 Is there a pinky crooked like theirs?
06:54 >> Just like that.
06:56 >> Like they both have it?
06:58 >> Yeah.
06:59 >> Like they both have it.
07:00 >> Yeah.
07:01 >> Whenever you take a picture with me, you can't take a bad picture.
07:08 It's impossible.
07:09 If I'm in it, you've got a good picture.
07:11 I'm telling you, you look good.
07:13 I make you look good, baby.
07:15 I make you look good.
07:17 >> You are so pitiful.
07:19 >> I know.
07:20 >> But that's why I love you.
07:21 >> I know, I know.
07:22 You can't help it.
07:23 >> It's just kind of amazing just to think about it, how you became a plucker because
07:33 of a slave name.
07:36 But now he's becoming a plucker because he wants to be.
07:39 >> Our ancestors, they didn't have no choice.
07:42 Their name was given to them by their owners.
07:47 Whoever owned them gave them their names.
07:49 >> I see the sign.
07:54 I see the sign.
07:59 >> We have a space here at the Black Archives called Heritage Hall.
08:03 We have all of the African American history lists, we have census reports, et cetera.
08:09 There was a naming tradition in enslaved communities where people would name their children after
08:16 family members.
08:18 They would often hold on to the first names.
08:21 They would ingrain that in the children from birth what their name was, what their family
08:25 name was.
08:27 And it often did not have a last name.
08:29 So when they would go to search for them, they would have a way to find them.
08:33 So that's why you see so many people named after their parents and grandparents and uncles
08:39 because that was part of that tradition, that naming tradition, so that you could find your
08:43 folks when you got freed and you were able to go search for them.
08:48 I admire you for trying to restore your family name to your entire family.
08:52 Claim the name that has some significance to you and to your history and not to the
08:58 white person who happened to own your papers at the time.
09:01 >> ♪ Hey, dark cloud rising ♪ ♪ Hey, dark cloud rising ♪
09:05 ♪ Hey, dark cloud rising ♪ ♪ This sun won't shine ♪
09:08 ♪ Hey, this sun won't shine ♪ ♪ Hey, this sun won't shine ♪
09:12 ♪ Hey, dark cloud going down ♪ ♪ That's the sign of the judgment ♪
09:15 ♪ Hey, that's the sign of the judgment ♪
09:17 ♪ Hey, that's the sign of the judgment ♪
09:18 >> I'm the last parker on my side of the family tree.
09:22 We got four people down to get their name changed.
09:29 You guys weren't here.
09:30 I cut a log out of the back, out of that tree that's down back there.
09:34 >> The one that fell down?
09:35 >> Mm-hmm, the one that's on the ground.
09:37 I cut the log.
09:39 Then I sliced this out.
09:42 Then I had to plane it down so it was smooth.
09:47 It means a lot that it's just got your family name on it, but also you know how it was made
09:53 or where it came from.
09:55 Then also, you guys having a hand in putting the lettering and stuff on it, so that way
10:01 you got a more personal connection to it.
10:04 ♪
10:10 >> Looks good.
10:16 My responsibility in carrying on that name would be to carry on a good reputation.
10:23 What I mean by that is living a good life.
10:27 All the parkers I know, they're all very loving people.
10:32 That's something I would want to continue.
10:33 I actually was listening to when the kids were saying their names, and I was like, it's
10:38 got a ring to it.
10:40 >> I like the ring of Parker.
10:42 >> Yeah.
10:43 >> It sounds good.
10:44 >> It does sound good.
10:45 One thing that I'm worried about is the court thing.
10:47 I'm going to feel like I'm going to jail for something that I didn't do.
10:51 >> All rise.
10:55 Be seated.
10:56 >> I'm nervous.
11:03 >> You may step forward.
11:08 Good afternoon.
11:09 >> Good afternoon, sir.
11:10 >> I like the honor of taking my dad's last name.
11:14 >> What would be the full name that you would like?
11:16 >> Samuel Matthew Parker.
11:18 >> Ray Parker.
11:19 >> Cameron Allen Harris.
11:20 >> I mean, Cameron Allen Parker.
11:22 >> Ashley Kaylin Parker.
11:24 >> The court finds it is proper in the premises and the court will grant the petition for
11:28 that Samuel Matthew Harris name is changed to Samuel Matthew Parker, Katrina Ray Parker,
11:34 Cameron Allen Parker, Ashley Kaylin Parker.
11:38 Congratulations to all of you.
11:39 >> Thank you.
11:45 >> Y'all was here.
11:47 Look at Matt.
11:48 Matt's still here.
11:49 Look at him.
11:50 >> Ashley was in my office.
11:51 >> Come here.
11:56 >> You can call your sister and chop her off.
12:12 >> My family is everything to me.
12:14 It gives me purpose.
12:15 It gives me a reason for being.
12:17 It meant the world to me for my grandkids especially to be willing to have their name
12:24 changed to my name.
12:27 It means a whole lot to be able to carry that family name on.
12:32 It's a beautiful thing.
12:35 >> Thank you.
12:38 >> Thank you.
12:41 >> Thank you.
12:44 >> Thank you.
12:47 >> Thank you.
12:50 >> Thank you.
12:53 >> Thank you.
12:56 >> Thank you.
12:59 >> Thank you.
13:02 >> Thank you.
13:05 >> Thank you.
13:08 >> Thank you.
13:11 >> Thank you.
13:14 >> Thank you.
13:16 (upbeat music)
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