Sixties Survivor

One salient irony is that Locke will now work for Lanier, who was one of Mayor Louie Welch's prominent backers during the era when Welch's police chief, Herman Short, was the bane of the black community. Locke prefers to talk about the Lanier of today.

"The only Lanier I know was the man who has been the mayor. He has clearly a commitment to diversity, clearly an appreciation for the need to change relationships with people. There is a human side to him that is genuine and real, and without putting a label on it, it's one I'm certainly comfortable with. His business dealings I don't know a lot about."

Perhaps the surest sign that Gene Locke is not very different from the man whose commitment landed him at the Houston police station in 1969 is the fact that he remains close to the two men who surrendered with him that day.

"Absolutely," replies Lithuli when asked if he and Locke have kept in touch. "We were cut from the same cloth. We had a genuine affinity and affection for each other and that has persisted until today. As soon as he came under consideration, he contacted me and asked for my thinking."

"We support each other," adds Parker. "He lives in Third Ward, right around the corner. He's a SHAPE supporter, financially and otherwise. When we need him to help children with his law practice, he helps."

And there's no backbiting from Locke's comrades when it comes to his new position. The sixties term "sellout" -- which these days is more or less an archaic epithet you rarely hear -- certainly doesn't apply to Locke, Parker says.

"Overall, they couldn't have made a better selection," Parker avers. "Gene has the knowledge, the experience, the compassion, and more importantly, the uncompromising character that keeps him from selling out.