Black History Month continues
Mood:
blue
Topic: Crime and Punishment
In order to help commemorate Black History Month, in arm in arm solidarity to our cousins in the South, with plenty of hand holding...OK, maybe not all that..but for todays special Machs Cafe is serving up a tribute of sorts to American photojournalist, author and filmmaker Gordon Parks.
Mr. Parks was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002.
He was the first black photographer to shoot for Life and Vogue magazines. Parks is also an accomplished movie director and music composer. He directed the movie "Shaft" in 1971 and has composed a piano concerto, a symphony, two sonatas, a ballet and three film scores. He is currently at work with cellist Yo Yo Ma on another composition.
For the photo below, Mr.Parks risked life and limb taking photos in a volatile South in steeped atmosphere of vapid and often violent racism
Yestreday, Friday, Feb. 10, Mr. Parks was honoured as the recipient of the William Allen White Foundation's 2006 National Citation, whost past recipients include
James Reston, 1950; Walter Cronkite, 1969; Arthur O. Sulzberger, 1974; James J. Kilpatrick, 1979; Helen Thomas, 1986; Charles Kuralt, 1989; Bernard Shaw, 1994; Bob Woodward, 2000; Molly Ivins, 2001; Cokie Roberts, 2002; and Gerald F. Seib, 2005.
A list of past recipients is available at www.journalism.ku.edu.
And Mr.Parks thought provoking and illustrious body of work can be sampled here
http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/parks/Parks has also just released two books, "Hungry Heart," a new memoir, and
"Eyes With Winged Thoughts", featuring his poetry and photographs.
"Gordon Parks: No Excuses,"
a children's book by Ann Parr of Lindsborg,
comes out next month
Posted by mach1231
at 11:25 AM PST
Updated: Saturday, February 11, 2006 1:43 PM PST