Reaction lever for a parking brake

A lever for moving first and second brake shoes into engagement with a drum to effect a brake application. The lever has a first end connected to the brake shoes and a second end with a tine fixed thereto to which a cable is connected to apply an input force to effect a brake application. A predetermined force is applied to the tine to deflect the tine and a tab engages the lever to hold the tine in the deflected position. The tine and second end of the lever move in unison in response to an input force until the input force exceeds the predetermined force such that while the tine and cable continue to move in unison the deflection of the tine proportionally reduces the movement of the first end of the lever and as a result an actuation force applied to effect a brake application is correspondingly reduced.