Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
GenX Gon Give It To Ya is ultimately about spreading love and bridging generations. I’m broadening connections while scoopin up some old friends along the way. We’ll reminisce on tv, movies, music, entertainment and events that helped form our culture cause the bond is deep!
Come Play!
Deshanta (00:00)
Welcome back to GenX Gon Give It To Ya and if you're new, be sure to subscribe. For today's episode, I asked my spirit team for their input.
I set the intention before I fell asleep to send me an answer.
I would have to say that dreams were my first interaction with the spirit world that has stuck. I can do so many things when dreaming, from flying, to shape shifting, to astral traveling, to understanding symbols enough to interpret and give messages.
Many many times I've gotten messages pertaining to everyday life.
So this particular night, I intended to wake the next morning knowing who my next episode would be about. I don't know what time it was, but I was aware that I was dreaming and hearing the name Gordon Parks. I repeated it a few times, then went back to sleep, again getting the name Gordon Parks and me repeating Gordon Parks. The name sounded familiar, but I couldn't say from what.
I was so confident that I would remember, I didn't even get up and write it down. Throughout the rest of the night, no matter what realm I was in, I would randomly say Gordon Parks. And when I woke up that morning, I was so excited, not only because I got my answer, but also because me, God, the ancestors, the universe collaborated to make that happen. That's so damn dope.
And I'm not the only one that can do stuff like this. If you have experienced similar, share your story in the comments.
And if you haven't, but you're trying, practice, practice, practice. Let's share our experience so someone else's journey might be easier. With that being said, I am proud to present Gordon Parks. Let's get into it.
Deshanta (01:27)
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was born November 30th, 1912 in Fort Scott, Kansas. He was the youngest of 15 children. His father, Andrew, was a farmer and his mother, Sarah, a devout Methodist.
In the 2000 documentary Gordon Parks, Half Past Autumn, he reveals that he was born dead, so the doctor wrapped him in a blanket and put him to the side. The doctor's assistant, Dr. Gordon, asks if he may try something. With the help of Gordon's sisters, they got a tub of water and a chunk of ice.
Dr. Gordon then dunks Baby Gordon into the water, then rubs him against the ice. Baby Gordon began to holler. Gordon would continue to say, he's been hollering ever since. Gordon and his siblings attended a elementary school called First Plaza School, later renamed Hawkins School
in honor of principal E.J. Hawkins. Because the town was so small, his high school had black and white people. Black people, however, were not allowed to attend social events or play sports.
Black students were also discouraged heavily from attempting to expand their education beyond high school. The students were told they were meant to become maids and porters. Now I didn't find anything specific in my research, but I'm thinking Sarah picked up on the fact that Gordon and possibly some of the other children were musically inclined because in 1919, multiple receipts were found towards payment on a piano by Sarah.
This fact will become relevant in the future. On May 9th, 1928, when Gordon was 16, his mother passed away. This was naturally devastating for everyone,
but even more so for Gordon, who went as far as to sleeping next to her coffin. It was also important for him to learn not to fear death. Soon after her passing, Gordon was sent to live with his sister, Maggie Lee, and brother-in-law in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He enrolls at the Mechanics Art High School. He also gets a job as a waiter at a diner.
Parks and his brother-in-law argued a lot, and days before Christmas is kicked out of the home, leaving him homeless.
While at a pool hall he hung out at gets offered a job to play piano at a brothel in Minneapolis. He'd continue to work odd jobs such as busboy, singer, waiter, and even at one point a semi-professional basketball player. There is even a time where he joins Larry Funk's orchestra. During this time, he also writes No Love on piano, which ends up being played on the radio.
In 1933, Gordon comes to Harlem, New York with an orchestra that immediately disbands as soon as they arrive. This is when he would meet his soon to be wife, Sally Alvis. The following month, he would join the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, in Fort Dix, New Jersey.
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a voluntary government work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18 to 28. It supplied manual labor jobs related to conservation and development of natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments. Gordon was assigned the Federal Youth Employment Agency planting trees and clearing camping grounds.
A little over a year later, he would move to Minnesota.
He gets a job working for the Northern Pacific Railroad as a porter/waiter
On December 7th, 1934, Gordon Roger Parks Jr. is born. In 1937, while Parks was waiting tables on a train, he sees photos of a depression.
Farm Security Administration photographers. The images inspire him to buy a camera. He immediately heads to a pawn shop and buys a camera for $7.50 and teaches himself to take pictures.
The clerks where Gordon got his first role of film developed were very impressed and encouraged him to apply for a fashion assignment at a women's clothing store in St. Paul, Minnesota, owned by Frank Murphy was hesitant but was persuaded by his wife to give him a chance. His photos caught the attention of Marva Lewis, heavyweight champion boxer Joe Lewis's wife.
She encouraged him to move to a larger city. He moved his family to Chicago, Illinois in 1940. Gordon starts a portrait business that specialized in photographs for society women. He also starts photographing for various local newspapers.
He would go on to win a Blue Ribbon Award at the American Negro Exposition. He also has three solo shows in St. Paul and Minneapolis. And just when you think things couldn't get more exciting, his daughter, Toni, is born November 4th.
In 1941, he has two exhibitions at Southside Community Art Center presenting pictorial, fashion, and commercial photographs. Eleanor Roosevelt would attend the opening event at the Southside Art Center called Crisis.
In his free time, he would also photograph fashions in Chicago as well as capturing photos of South Side Chicago's poverty.
His ability to capture countless African-Americans across the city would get him awarded the Julius Rolls-Walt Fellowship for photography. This prestigious award paid $200 a month and choice of employer.
Gordon chose to work with FSA, the Farm Security Administration in DC run by Roy Stryker.
It was part of President Roosevelt's New Deal programs meant to show the face of America
chronicling Americans living during the Depression in rural and urban areas. This is where Gordon would get the idea for his famous photo of Ella Watson titled American Gothic, which is a re-imagining of a painting from 1930 by Grant Wood also titled American Gothic.
Gordon followed Ella Watson around for several weeks capturing her daily life. It is one of Park's most famous images to this day.
In 1943, FSA is dissolved and absorbed into the Office of War Information.
He is requested by head of FSA Roy Stryker to join Office of War Information.
It is then that Parks would have the honor of photographing the Tuskegee Airmen.
With opportunity and opportunity at his doorstep, we gotta keep in mind that racism and hatred stay prevalent in nearly every encounter Gordon engaged in, which attests to his dedication and commitment.
When he was featured in the US Camera Magazine he was met with degrading accolades. That same year, he would return to Harlem to photograph author Richard Wright for 13 Against the Odds. Soon after,
Gordon would witness a riot in Harlem over the death of a Black soldier at the hands of a White police officer, allegedly.
On December 7th, 1944, Gordon's son David is born.
He begins working for Standard Oil Company in New York at the urging of Roy Stryker to become part of the team. Standard Oil had become known for exposing corruption and social injustices in corporation and politics.
Gordon initially experiences discrimination by one of the executives at Standard Oil, but eventually wins him over and is hired to do a family portrait for the guy.
In 1946, Gordon buys a house in White Plains, New York, so his family who had been living in Minneapolis with Sally's father could be closer to him. Soon after he is laid off.
In 1947, he writes his first book, Flash Photography. Franklin Watts Publishing House offered him $1,000 advance for two books.
In 1947, he was working as a freelance fashion photographer for Vogue magazine. It would be Frank Murphy's wife, Madeleine that got him that assignment. In the documentary Gordon Parks Half Past Autumn, Gordon reminisces about that fateful day. He first encountered the Murphys in their store in 1940.
He asked Madeline why she gave him a chance. She replied humorously that she thinks she may have been mad at Frank or something like that.
It was the Vogue photoshoot that Gordon learned to let the model move and to move with the model.
As successful as he was at Vogue, he had even bigger dreams. He wanted to work for Life magazine. One day in 1948, he decided to shoot his shot. He walked into the office of Wilson Hicks, who was the picture editor at Life. Hicks immediately tells him to leave. Gordon convinces him to take a look at his work. Hicks was impressed, so he called in a couple of other editors who agreed. Gordon was offered an upcoming crime segment on Gang Wars.
which featured gang leader Red Jackson of Harlem Gang, the Mid-Towners, in a piece titled Harlem Gang Essay.
He would become the first black staff writer.
After gaining the gang's trust, he spent time driving them around in his Buick Roadmaster, observing how a simple glance, wrong look,
or a game of stickball could quickly become deadly.
After he understood allegiance and loyalty was based out of self-preservation, did he ask Red Jackson if he could use his camera to show a reflection of gang life. He wanted to give the most accurate depiction so included some of Jackson's brutal stories
as well as his own personal account of having to run from an ambush at a funeral by rival gang the Sabres.
Also in 1948, Gordon collaborates with writer Ralph Ellison on a project called Harlem is Nowhere. At the time, Ellison was three years into writing Invisible Man.
Though Ellison was also a photographer, preferred Gordon for that portion of the assignment. They walked the streets of Harlem capturing images that would bring Harlem is nowhere to life. The duo began mentoring one another. Gordon would help Ralph become a better photographer and Ralph would help Gordon become a better writer.
Unfortunately, the project, though complete, would never see the light of day because publication, The Magazine of the Year would suspend its release and file for bankruptcy.
Gordon captured a haunting image of him and Jackson taking refuge
from the Sabres by hiding on the second floor of an abandoned building. The photo ensured Parks a long tenure with Life magazine.
Gordon also released his follow-up book on photography techniques called Camera Portraits that same year.
In 1952, Gordon would be assigned to Paris for two years. Normally it would take working for the publication about seven years before being given such a coveted position.
He would later say that he considered Paris his beautiful mistress because of his newfound access to the world of art, which consisted of Picasso, Brach, Van Gough, French artist Chagall, among others. He says he was seduced. He moved his family to France. His children loved it and went to the best schools. It was in France that the urge to write poetry and compose music would manifest fully.
With the mentorship of composer Dean Dixon, new aspirations were realized and soon after Dixon conducted the first symphony and performed a piano concerto that Gordon had written.
Becoming known for his sensitivity to subjects, gained the trust of many.
For example, actress Ingrid Bergman and her lover, director Roberto Rossellini, whom she was having an affair with during the filming of the movie Stromboli.
It became clear that they were being judged by most of the world, yet that didn't stop the couple from requesting Gordon to take pictures as they walked along the beach to share with the world.
They wanted everyone to know their love was real. The 1950s would continue to see Gordon working as a consultant on different Hollywood productions, including documentaries commissioned by National Education Television
on Black Ghetto Life.
In 1956, Life Magazine sent Gordon to Alabama to document African American life during segregation and the Jim Crow era in the South.
In late 1959, he got a chance to work with someone he deeply admired. His first encounter with Duke Ellington was in 1929 when he was 17. An already established Ellington was at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis.
Ellington was well known for performing at Harlem's The Cotton Club. Throughout the years, his admiration grew for the bandleader. Things would come full circle in 1960 when Gordon was assigned to tour with Duke Ellington's band.
His photos were an attestment to Ellington's energetic personality and performance which captivated audiences.
Gordon was living the life most people dream of, but behind the scenes his marriage was falling apart. He was never home to be with his family and his wife Sally grew tired. They would divorce in 1961. That same year, life sent Gordon to Rio to document poverty in Latin America.
There he would meet 12 year old Flavio De Silva, who was considered head of the household due to his taking on a lot of responsibilities. He was the oldest of eight kids. Parks would spend weeks documenting and recording his family and the filth in which they lived.
Flavio was malnourished and doctors believed had tuberculosis. expressing that he wanted to bring him back to the US, the doctors told Gordon Flavio wouldn't make it six months. After the project was complete, Gordon expected his story on Flavio to get front cover of Time Magazine.
Instead he saw the article contained one photo of Flavio Gordon immediately submitted his resignation. They tried to play in his face ya'll.
This move would cause editors to reconsider
and Freedoms Fearful Foe :Poverty was published. The article garnered so much support that $30,000 was raised to go back and get Flavio.
Life magazine would contribute another $25,000.
Gordon went back and brought Flavio and his family back to the US to live.
Many people, including Parks, wanted to adopt Flavio, but Flavio's father allegedly refused knowing how important Flavio was financially.
In the years that followed, Gordon and Flavio would maintain a deep connection through letters throughout their lives. In 1999, Gordon reunited with Flavio in Brazil. It had been 42 years since they'd seen each other.
In the documentary Gordon Parks Half Past Autumn, we would see the two reunite along with Flavio's family.
They would take to the streets of old stomping grounds to show how far he had come. Gordon would take out his camera and do one of the things he does best, capture a moment that would forever be etched in our hearts.
In 1962, Gordon married Elizabeth Campbell, whose father was Elmer Sims Campbell, the first African-American cartoonist published and distributed nationally in a magazine. He created Eski, the pop eyed mascot for Esquire.
Gordon and Elmer were friends so he knew Elizabeth since she was around 9. They began dating when she was around 22 and he was in his late 40s.
They would have a daughter Leslie in 1967. Their marriage would last 11 years with Elizabeth later saying, I knew the marriage would not last forever. I knew it would not be till death do us part. I think Gordon was aware of it too. A year after marrying Elizabeth, his semi autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree was published.
In 1963, after declining interviews from several white reporters, Gordon was tasked with trying to get an interview with the Nation of Islam. He saw Malcolm
X speaking on the street, approached him. After a few conversations, he was invited to meet with Elijah Muhammad to discuss a potential article in Life
At the meeting, Elijah Muhammad asked Parks, why does a bright young man like you work for the White Devils? And this is one of the reasons I have great respect for Gordon Parks. His life was full of all types of people giving pushbacks.
Even ones in his own community, yet he still remained true to himself and his beliefs. He didn't have an overwhelming need to follow. He was all the leader he needed. I think that's part of the reason him and Malcolm became such good friends.
Muhammad did agree to do the article. Gordon would spend months capturing images of Malcolm, Muhammad, families, children, community in prayer,
and a haunting image of Muslim sister Ethel Sharif staring disconcertantly calm into the camera.
The project would be considered a masterpiece. Gordon and Malcolm's friendship would transcend beyond work or photos,
So much so that Malcolm asked Gordon to be his daughter, godfather.
In 1964, he wrote and directed Flavio, a short film about the 12-year-old boy from Rio, who won the hearts of many for his resilience.
In 1966, his well-received autobiography, A Choice of Weapons, is published. Also in 1966, Gordon publishes another piece for Life magazine focusing on boxing legend Muhammad Ali titled The Redemption of a Champion.
Though becoming known internationally as a boxing great, he was also being perceived as obnoxious and cocky.
Gordon looked forward to them meeting up. He wanted to see if the rumors were true. was quoted as saying, I felt free to tell him quite directly that I had come to Miami to see whether he really was obnoxious as people were making him out to be.
Gordon was able to capture multiple unseen sides of Ali from moments in and out of the ring, engaging with his fans, meals with his family, and even moments in contemplation.
Parks came to empathize with him on a human level, and he was able to change public opinion on Ali through his images. The two would form a decades-long friendship.
The next decade would see Gordon Parks even more busy. In 1968, he would direct two documentaries,
Diary of a Harlem Family, which earned an Emmy, and The World of Pirie Thomas, which tells the story of El Barrio,
A section of New York City, also known as Spanish Harlem, which is where Pirie lives. He overcomes poverty by
writing a book on his environment called Down These Mean Streets. Gordon will also write another book in 1968 titled A Poet and His Camera.
This is his first work of creative photography that he pairs with his famous photographs and his own poetry.
And just when we thought we couldn't get more impressed by his multiversive talent, Gordon does it again by co-founding Essence Magazine.
He served as editorial director for the first three years. In 1969, he would write, produce, direct, as well as write the film score for his semi-autobiographical book, The Learning Tree.
for an African American. Twenty years later, the Library of Congress would add the movie to its national registry.
1970, Gordon Parks was assigned to cover the Black Panthers, specifically Panthers Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver and his wife, fellow Panther and a communication secretary for the party, Kathleen Cleaver.
Eldridge had recently fled to Algiers after being ordered back to prison for his involvement in the ambush of Oakland police officers with two of them being hurt. Gordon would go to Algiers to conduct the interview.
In 1971, he would go on to direct the culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant black exploitation film Shaft, written by Ernest Tideman and John D. F. Black.
Isaac Hayes would record the successful soundtrack winning a Grammy for Best Original Score and a second Grammy that he would share with Jimmy Allen for Best Instrumental Arrangement. The theme from Shaft would win the Academy Award for Best Original Score. Isaac Hayes would be the first Black man to win in this category.
Shaft would produce two sequels, both with different plots.
In the original, we see private detective John Shaft hired to rescue a Harlem mobster's daughter from Italian mobsters who have kidnapped her. The film explores masculinity, sexuality, race relations, and Black power. Moviegoers had seen nothing like John Shaft played by handsome Richard Roundtree before.
Though not as successful as the original, Shaft's Big Score and Shaft in Africa remain cult classics.
Also in 1971, he would publish another combination of photography and poetry in Whispers of Intimate Things.
In 1973, Gordon and Elizabeth divorce. That same year, he becomes romantically involved with former editor Genevieve Young.
They'd known each other from when he wrote The Learning Tree.
Like Gordon, she was also going through a divorce. Their marriage would last six years. In 1974, would direct the super cops. It's based on the true story of NYPD officers Dave Greenberg and Robert Hans, who became known for their dedication and commitment to getting drugs and weapons off the streets.
Usually assigned to desk or traffic duty, they would often abandon their assignment whenever they heard the sounds of gunfire.
They would also make arrests off duty. They would earn the nickname Batman and Robin with a 97 % conviction rate. In 1975, Gordon would write Moments Without Proper Names.
In 1976, he directed the movie Lead Belly. It chronicles the life of blues singer/guitarist
Huddy Leadbecker, a man who goes to jail a lot or ends up in chain gangs. a lot of racism with his only solace being his music. Gordon thinks it's one of his best films and it would receive glowing reviews, but it wasn't backed by the studio.
In 1978, Gordon returned to update his story on 12-year-old Flavio with the book Flavio. 1979 would prove to be a tumultuous year. He releases the autobiography that focuses on the years 1944 to 1978 called To Smile in Autumn.
Then on April 3rd, Gordon Jr. would be killed in a plane crash while in Kenya. would also divorce that year. They would remain good friends throughout the years though.
She would even help him establish the Gordon Parks Foundation in 2006, shortly before his death.
The 80s, 90s, and beyond would see the many talents of Gordon Parks come full circle. He has been awarded over 50 honorary degrees. In 1984, he would be inducted into the NAACP Hall of Fame.
In 1987, the first major retrospective exhibition of his photographs were at the New York Public Library and the Ulrich Museum of Art At Wichita State University.
he earned the National Medal of Arts presented by President Ronald Reagan. In 2000, the documentary Half Past Autumn is released.
In 2002, he is inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and the Jackie Robinson Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, Gordon Park Center for Culture and Diversity
is founded at Fort Scott Community College.
In 2005, he is given the William Allen White Award for journalistic merit This is just a short list of awards and accolades the mighty Gordon Parks has earned. I could go on and on. On March 7...
In Gordon Park dies due to complications from high blood pressure and prostate cancer at his home in Manhattan at the age of 93.
He leaves us with a legacy unmatched.
On June 18th, 2021, HBO documentary film releases, A Choice of Weapons at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The doc include appearances by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,
Anderson Cooper, Ava DuVernay, Spike Lee, Fat Joe, Questlove, Richard Roundtree, and many more who pay homage to the man
who continues to inspire us.
Thank you Gordon Parks. You mean so much to so many.
Deshanta (24:14)
On the next episode of Gen X Gon' It To Ya, I'll be reminiscing with Harry S. Truman alum, former Co-op City resident, writer, editor, music journalist, pop culture critic, Miles Marshall Lewis will be joining us.
Though we have mutual friends we have never met.
He was gracious enough to accept my invite which I am very grateful for. If you haven't already, hit that subscribe button. Be there or be square.