Phaedra Parks always has a lot to say – and she has almost as much going on! The Real Housewives Of Atlanta star is currently juggling her law practice, activism, running a foundation, opening a funeral home, parenting her two sons, and reality TV. How does she have the time for all that shade?
Taking a break from dodging depositions squeezing peaches, Phaedra has channeled her activism through Black Lives Matter, the Flint Water crisis, and political involvement into her own self-titled foundation, The Phaedra Foundation. When hubris saves! “My mission is to change one life, one community, one family, hopefully, through the course of my working with them.”
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Praising the “platform of Housewives,” Phaedra explains that it’s “really important for me to, successfully, not only use it for my own personal benefit, but to, hopefully, bring other people ahead, to inspire people, to rebuild communities.”
The Phaedra Foundation encompasses several programs, including Save Our Sons, and this summer will roll out Camp Joy outside of Flint, MI for the children affected by the water crisis. The overnight camp will provide campers with everything they need for camp and will include volunteer efforts from teachers, academics and celebrities. “I want the children to come to the camp, and just be children,” champions Phaedra. “I want to provide them with true joy.”
Phaedra recently revealed her political aspirations and shares that as her former law school president she always envisioned she’d be the insurance commissioner. (Didn’t her soon-to-be-ex-husband commit insurance fraud?) “I’m definitely moving more towards, maybe, an elected office.” Well, if Donald Trump can turn his reality TV career into a run for president, maybe Phaedra can too!
“I’m not sure where I would be most helpful, but I just want to show people a renaissance woman, much like myself, who has been through a lot of challenges, but also a lot of successes as well, can use your voice not only for cattiness on a television show but to help people in a very positive way,” expresses Phaedra.
“We all live in America and we all want to have the American dream,” she adds. “Someone has to fight for the people who don’t have an opportunity to share in the dream that we should all be living.”
Phaedra’s advice for achieving your own American dream? Be diligent, be consistent, be patient, and remember: “Hard work always pays off.”
In the meantime Phaedra (and a business partner) are performing “due diligence” in preparations for opening a funeral home in Birmingham, Al. “I don’t want to spread myself too thin, but my passion is burying people and embalming – I love it. The dead doesn’t talk quite as much as some of the other Housewives, so I can’t wait to get my own funeral home so I can do it the way I’ve envisioned for so long.”
Apparently Bette Midler and Phaedra once discussed Phaedra’s “love of the dead,” and Bette proposed Phaedra doing her funeral one day. “That would be a dream come true,” gushed an excited Phaedra (she loves Bette!).
Moving on to the topic of parenting, Phaedra strives to be not only a “great example”, but “expose” her children to sometimes uncomfortable reality of their lives. Which, unfortunately, is very “personal” as a result of Apollo Nida‘s incarceration. “I can’t really hide that,” she sighs.
Apollo provides the perfect example of what not to do so Phaedra strives to raise her sons with social conscience regarding issues within the African American community. “I don’t want my sons to have a spirit of entitlement or privilege where they think it won’t happen to them. I think if they’re better equipped from the beginning they’re better prepared as young men to handle those situations appropriately.”
Part of that education included taking them to DC for the Million Man March, which was one of Phaedra’s favorite moments from this season of Real Housewives Of Atlanta. “That was so powerful. I think it was just so impactful on us as women, but moms of sons, and our sons as well.”
However, it’s not all serious stuffs – sometimes Phaedra just wants to be hypocritical ridiculous which is why her friendship with Porsha Williams is so important. “My favorite part of the season was hanging out with my girlfriend Porsha,” Phaedra told Perez Hilton. “We always have a great time together.
You can check out Phaedra’s foundation at www.phaedrapfoundation.org.
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Photo Credit: Paras Griffin/Getty Images
