When he was a child growing up in Los Angeles, Byron Lynn Parker loved playing basketball and listening to West Coast rap.
He idolized Tupac Shakur, the popular rap artist gunned down in Las Vegas in 1996.
Byron “Winkie” Parker plays with neice
Parker’s favorite song was a 1994 hip hop tune called “Back in the Days” by Ahmad. The song now makes his aunt, Darlene Harris, who helped raise Parker, very sad.
“That song always brings tears to my eyes,” she said.
The lyrics call her back to her fun-loving nephew’s childhood:
Back in the days when I was young — I’m not a kid anymore
But some days I sit and wish I was a kid again…
But let me finish this reminiscin’ and tellin’
Bout when girls was bellin’ tight corduroys like for the boys
Basket weaves, Nike Court Airs, and footsie socks
And eatin’ pickles, with tootsie pops…