Rob Parker is back. The now former ESPN personality has hooked up with a site called The Shadow League.

His first column carries this headline: “Allow me to reintroduce myself; I’ve learned lessons, but I’m still Rob Parker.”

Parker opens by addressing his First Take comments on Robert Griffin III, which is why he no longer is on First Take:

I was Robert Griffin III.

I am RG III.

That’s because I’ve faced questions, too—always will. I faced them when returning home from college. I faced them when I first went to an NABJ conference as a young, ambitious cub reporter. I faced them recently when trying to convince the editors of The Shadow League that I wasn’t too old-school to resonate with their readers.

We are black men. This is what we do. We challenge each other. It will never stop, nor should it.

Continuing on that theme:

In no way did I mean to do any harm to Griffin III, the Redskins’ starting quarterback. By all accounts, he’s a good guy and had a tremendous rookie season.

When brothers talk to and about each other, it’s usually not intended with ill will. And that certainly wasn’t the goal of ESPN’s First Take, a show I proudly worked on for six years. I say ‘proudly’ not because it was regular loot, but because the show honestly gave black men a real, strong voice on a national platform.

No wonder it connected with so many brothers who have had to put up with all-white, sports-talk radio stations in a town near you. Yep, we didn’t have a voice there, but had one on First Take.

That was my goal: bring that voice to the forefront; give it an audience, some airplay. Stop just agreeing with the other guys at the table because it is easier, safer.

Nope. Not me. Never will be me.

You can’t be afraid of dialogue, talking about things that some people just might not know about. That’s how we learn, get educated and grow. Muting differing voices is hardly what America was built on. You don’t have to agree.

And here’s his lesson learned and sign-off:

Through the years, I have remained pretty consistent with my approach: be honest and fair. The Shadow League is getting the hard-hitting, thorough me.

I’ve learned something from the Griffin III situation. I learned, even more, that when you talk about race you need to be especially careful. However, it hasn’t changed me. And, I definitely won’t be muzzled here at The Shadow League. Trust me, those guys from the neighborhood will know it’s still me, still Rob from Jamaica, Queens.

So basically, Parker learned the lesson of being careful what you say about race on national TV. He’s now a long way from ESPN.