Читать книгу Freedom Facts and Firsts - Jessie Carney Smith - Страница 15

Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born November 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas, and died March 7, 2006, in New York City. A renaissance man, Parks was born into poverty but blessed with a mother who taught him to use love and self-respect against racism—a lesson he not only internalized, but passed on through his works. Throughout his career, he opened doors that had previously been closed to black people. He became the first African American photojournalist for Life and Vogue magazines; he was a part of the Life staff from 1948 on into the Civil Rights Movement. During this time, he took some of the most telling pictures of racial strife and personalities in America. These included a Harlem gang, the Black Panther Party, Malcolm X, and the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. These and his photograph “American Gothic,” which depicts Ella Watson, a black cleaning woman with a mop and a broom standing in front of an American flag, provided a new way of seeing black people. This vision was reflected not only in his pictures, but also in his work producing and directing Hollywood films. He underscored to the public that race should be no cause for failure, that injustices in life are opportunities for self-help and not destruction, and that the weapons against the disparities in society can include cameras, pens, paintbrushes, pianos, and the desire to achieve.

Helen R. Houston