Milton Jr. shares reflections on his father, the late State Senator T. Milton Street

Retired Pennsylvania State Senator T. Milton Street passed away on November 28, 2022.

- Thera Martin

An African American lawmaker from Philadelphia, people who want to give credit where credit is due--have to say Senator Milton T. Street made his mark while he lived. That's what I believe.

It gave me great pleasure to have the opportunity to interview one of his sons, Milton Street, Jr., someone who has been a friend of mine for many years. Milton Jr. shared with me that his father was his very best friend. He said they loved to watch football together. Both of them are diehard Eagles Fans. However, since his father has made transition, Milton Jr. questioned himself about whether he really loved football or was it that he loved watching it with his dad. Since his dad has passed, he says thus far, football just doesn't seem the same.

Here's what Milton Street Jr. talked about when I interviewed him Saturday, December 3rd. Milton Jr. stated, "When my dad was first elected to the State House of Representatives, they put his office in a fire escape. His office was actually in a fire escape. His response was, "I'm an elected official just like everybody else up here, and I deserve a real office." You know how my dad was. The Speaker of the House (at that time) told my Father, "You're lucky you even have an office up there. The last person that complained, about their office, wound up in the telephone booth on the corner." My dad's response was, well, we know it wasn't you because your fat butt couldn't fit in the telephone booth. (The late Senator didn't use the word "butt").

As a result of that, my dad and I went to a sporting goods store up there in Harrisburg and bought a tent, and my dad pitched on the front lawn of the Capitol and ran his office out of that tent. Shortly thereafter, suddenly they found real office space for not only my father; but for the other state legislators who had been mistreated in terms of office space. Ziare Rah was right there, and we helped him pitch that tent.