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BBC NARRATOR:
He is a famous photographer,
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the only Negro cameraman
on LIFE magazine.
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00:00:18,208 --> 00:00:21,875
He's a composer, an author,
and a film director.
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Among his friends
in the world of liberal arts,
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he's a success in his own right,
accepted on that basis.
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But he is still a Negro living
in America.
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Not every White American
has heard
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of the famous Gordon Parks.
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When I walked
into LIFE magazine, that uh,
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18 years ago...
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You see, a Negro--
Put it like this.
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A Negro builds up
a double defense.
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When you are a kid,
you have to prepare
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00:00:47,708 --> 00:00:50,416
to be able to do much more
than a White boy,
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00:00:50,500 --> 00:00:53,291
so that if the time comes
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where your talent
is pitted against a White man,
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you will get the nod because
they can't afford to lose you.
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The term,
"living in a White man's world"
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is one
I don't particularly like.
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A lot of Negroes use it,
a lot of Whites use it.
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But I consider this my world.
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♪ ("THIS WORLD"
BY CHARLES BRADLEY PLAYING) ♪
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♪ This world
Is going up in flames ♪
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♪ And nobody
Wanna take the blame ♪
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BLM PROTESTERS:
Hands up! Don't shoot!
Hands up! Don't shoot!
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♪ Don't tell me
How to live my life ♪
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♪ When you
Never felt the pain ♪
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♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
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♪ Ooh!
They don't hear me cry ♪
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♪ Ooh!
Oh, it's killing me ♪
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♪ A better world, oh baby! ♪
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♪ Gotta make it baby
Gotta make it right ♪
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♪ Baby! Oh! ♪
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♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
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(POLICE SIREN WAILING)
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COACH: Let's go, let's go,
let's go, let's go, let's go.
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DEVIN ALLEN: I only can imagine
if Gordon Parks was alive now.
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What he would be able to do.
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You know, to talk
about these serious issues.
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Always something
going on around here. (CHUCKLES)
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There you go, shorty.
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I had to make a lot
of mistakes, you know,
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to get to where I am now.
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♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
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ALLEN: I was hustling,
and I was in the streets.
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I lost like my first friend
at like 16, 17,
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due to gun violence, and that
kind of, like, changed my world.
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I wanted to really pursue art.
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So I would go
to Barnes & Noble,
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and just, like, have all these
photography books out.
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And I just would, like,
sit and look at Gordon's work,
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if it was him
shooting his stuff in Harlem.
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The story, the gang--
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that's still going
on to this day.
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I was like, "So I can
shoot all these things too.
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I'ma get me a camera."
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So it started off as
just a personal journey...
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(PROTESTORS CHANTING)
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...but as I got deep
into my career,
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that's when I really
started realizing
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how powerful an image can be.
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'Cause my career
is literally built on
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the broken back of Freddie Gray.
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REPORTER: The 25-year-old
falls into a coma
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at shock trauma
and dies seven days later.
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PROTESTERS:
Freddie! Freddie! Freddie!
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ALLEN: I knew how my city was,
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and the energy that was, like,
kinda vibrating.
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So I just took to the streets.
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PROTESTERS: No justice,
no peace! No racist police!
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ALLEN: When everything
really hit the fan
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is when we were down
in Camden Yards,
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and all the police were worried
about the fact
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that we had an Orioles game.
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Some fans at the bars were
actually calling us the N-word,
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they were calling us monkeys.
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And that's what actually
started everything.
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(CROWD SCREAMING)
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(GLASS SMASHING)
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ALLEN: And this guy runs past,
and he throws something,
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and I just snapped the picture.
I don't think nothing of it.
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I remember
just uploading the image
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while all of this was going on,
saying, "We're sick and tired."
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And around
that time, I get like
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a blocked call come through,
and he is like,
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"This is Olivier
from TIME magazine.
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I wanted to talk to Devin Allen
about his work in Baltimore.
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What publication are you with?"
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I'm like,
"I'm not with no publication."
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And I told them my story,
and we did a blog from it.
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I go to sleep. I wake up,
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and I just see all these, like,
tweets. And it says,
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"Amateur photographer
from West Baltimore
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snags the cover
of TIME magazine."
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And I just burst out in tears,
and I call my mother,
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and she burst out in tears,
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and my whole family
is just crying.
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For the first time, I understood
what Gordon was talking about,
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that the camera
is a real weapon,
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and I realized how powerful
I am with a camera in my hand.
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♪ (SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
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GORDON PARKS:
I might have turned eventually
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to the gun or the knife
as a weapon to survive,
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but by then
I had chosen the camera.
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Photography was the way in which
I could express my own feelings
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about racism in America,
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about the downtrodden.
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And somehow or another, I might
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transcend my own experience.
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I live off of my emotions,
perhaps, you know.
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And so I had
turned those emotions
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into some mercenary thing,
by which I could survive.
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♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
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BRYAN STEVENSON:
What distinguishes Gordon Parks
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from a lot of other artists
is that he had
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a quintessentially authentic
Black experience.
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I mean, he was
the child of Black people
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who had fled enslavement.
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Growing up in Kansas,
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to be proximate to lynching
and racial terrorism,
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to understand the weight
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that people of color
felt in these spaces
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where you had
to basically be two people.
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One person around White people
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that would keep you safe,
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and another person
with your family.
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I think just gave him an insight
to the Black narrative.
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(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
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Boy, they sure are having
a good ol' time
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over there at that crap game.
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PARKS: Kansas itself offered you
freedom on one hand,
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and on the other hand, it was
trying to take it away from you.
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Tuck! Tuck! Kirky's coming!
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♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
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Run, Tuck, run!
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KIRKY: Stop damn it, I'll shoot!
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(GUNSHOT)
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♪ (TENSE MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
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PARKS: Four or five
of my closest friends
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had died through violence.
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About four people
were shot to death.
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My mother wanted me
out of there.
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She knew it was a
dangerous place for me to live.
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PHILIP BROOKMAN:
Gordon lived a wandering life
as a young person.
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He gets a job as a waiter
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on the dining car
of the Northern Pacific.
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PARKS: I had great expectations,
you know.
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I thought I was going
to conquer a new world.
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He had to go through getting
kicked off of the trains.
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He had to go through
hanging out with the bums.
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He had to go through all these
different forms of life,
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but when you're traveling
around the world
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and you're in a place where
you've never been before,
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the first thing
that you have to do is observe.
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And the more you observe,
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the more you understand
what's going on around you.
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JAMEL SHABAZZ:
He would ride the trains
and pick up the magazines,
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and look at imagery and be
informed behind that.
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Having an opportunity to go to
different cities,
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under some
really harsh conditions,
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just to survive
and being amongst the filth
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and the drunkenness
and addiction.
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Luckily for him,
he was able to get that camera.
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BROOKMAN: He's teaching
himself photography
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by reading, uh,
training manuals.
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His studio
was the kitchen of his home,
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and his lights
were made from tin cans.
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That's how Gordon Parks
started out, you know,
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making pictures and then
selling them to the newspaper.
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♪ (JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
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STEVENSON:
When Black photographers began
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capturing African American life,
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it created a new relationship
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for Black people
to their own identity.
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When Gordon Parks came along,
he found value and interest
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and art in the lives
of ordinary people.
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AVA DUVERNAY:
At a time and in a society
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where Black people
were told far too often
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that we're criminals,
that we're ugly,
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that we're less worthy
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to have the spotlight on us
for any reason,
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Gordon put a lens
and a light on us for ourselves.
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And allowed us to see
the elegance of the lives
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that we live and the places
where we are.
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♪ (JAZZ MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
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BROOKMAN: In January 1942,
Parks receives word
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that he's been
awarded a fellowship
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to work for a year at
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the Farm Security Administration
in Washington.
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00:10:01,916 --> 00:10:06,333
The purpose of the FSA
was to resettle American farmers
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who had lost their land
during the Dust Bowl.
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♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
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BROOKMAN: It set up a unit
of photographers and filmmakers
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who could help to document
what they were doing.
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It was run by a man by
the name of Roy Stryker.
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MICHAL RAZ-RUSSO: Many of the
photographers who shot for
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the Farm Security Administration
become heroes for Gordon Parks,
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and he's really interested in
the process and their approach.
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And so his idea is,
"Let me go out there,
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and let me
mentor under Roy Stryker."
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PARKS:
He was the one who taught me
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that when you are doing a story,
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it's not for you
to accept the people,
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but the people to accept you.
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Because you are going
into their presence,
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asking them to help you.
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BROOKMAN: Roy Stryker actually
introduces Gordon Parks
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00:11:01,500 --> 00:11:02,666
to the cleaning woman,
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00:11:02,750 --> 00:11:06,125
who cleans the offices in
the Agriculture Department.
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00:11:09,083 --> 00:11:10,875
A woman by
the name of Ella Watson.
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He photographs her at work,
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sweeping floors,
cleaning the offices.
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00:11:18,750 --> 00:11:21,333
In one office,
there's an American flag
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00:11:21,416 --> 00:11:22,583
hanging on the wall.
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00:11:25,750 --> 00:11:27,625
LONNIE BUNCH:
Here is a woman
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00:11:27,708 --> 00:11:30,375
who in some ways
is the backbone of America...
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00:11:32,583 --> 00:11:35,208
yet she is standing
in front of a flag,
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00:11:35,291 --> 00:11:38,208
in front of an America
that didn't believe in her.
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SPIKE LEE: Gordon Parks
is one of my heroes.
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00:11:46,125 --> 00:11:47,500
Ella Watson.
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00:11:47,583 --> 00:11:50,500
This photograph, to me,
talks about
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00:11:50,583 --> 00:11:51,958
how our ancestors,
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00:11:53,125 --> 00:11:55,625
from 1619,
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00:11:55,708 --> 00:11:59,958
when that first slave ship hit
Jamestown, Virginia.
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00:12:00,041 --> 00:12:03,208
We have fought and died
for this country.
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00:12:03,291 --> 00:12:08,500
We have loved this country, but
the love has not been returned.
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00:12:08,583 --> 00:12:11,166
That's what
this photograph says to me.
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00:12:13,708 --> 00:12:16,791
Then I thought of Grant Wood
and American Gothic.
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00:12:18,916 --> 00:12:20,625
I said,
"Take this broom in one hand,
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00:12:20,708 --> 00:12:22,125
take this mop in the other,
233
00:12:22,208 --> 00:12:24,125
and stand before that
American flag."
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00:12:26,166 --> 00:12:27,250
I blew it up the next morning,
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00:12:27,333 --> 00:12:29,250
put it on Stryker's desk,
and he nearly fainted.
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00:12:29,333 --> 00:12:31,791
He said, "Oh my God, you're
going to get us all fired."
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00:12:35,250 --> 00:12:38,583
LATOYA RUBY FRAZIER:
She's standing in front
of the American flag...
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00:12:40,041 --> 00:12:42,666
in a society, a nation,
and a government
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00:12:42,750 --> 00:12:48,541
that doesn't recognize her
as a full human being.
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00:12:48,625 --> 00:12:52,958
PARKS: I made a very innocent,
bold, outrageous statement.
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00:12:57,541 --> 00:13:00,583
FRAZIER: You know, it reminds me
of the Malcolm X quote,
242
00:13:00,666 --> 00:13:02,791
"The most hated,
the most mistreated,
243
00:13:02,875 --> 00:13:06,833
and the most abused person
in America is the Black woman."
244
00:13:06,916 --> 00:13:09,541
There it is right there,
written on her face.
245
00:13:11,041 --> 00:13:14,166
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
246
00:13:14,250 --> 00:13:16,541
BROOKMAN: Parks continues
to photograph Ella Watson.
247
00:13:16,625 --> 00:13:18,166
♪ (WHIMSICAL MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
248
00:13:18,250 --> 00:13:21,125
BROOKMAN: He worked with her
for a period of weeks.
249
00:13:21,208 --> 00:13:24,875
He photographs her at church,
he photographs her neighborhood.
250
00:13:24,958 --> 00:13:26,708
There is one amazing photograph
251
00:13:26,791 --> 00:13:28,916
that he makes
of Ella Watson at home.
252
00:13:30,291 --> 00:13:32,208
The photograph is divided
right down the middle,
253
00:13:32,291 --> 00:13:34,958
and you see Ella Watson
on the left side,
254
00:13:35,041 --> 00:13:37,916
helping to feed
one of the young kids.
255
00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,666
On the right side of the picture
there is a mirror,
256
00:13:40,750 --> 00:13:44,208
and her adopted daughter is
reflected in the mirror.
257
00:13:45,583 --> 00:13:47,666
You can see, also a photograph,
258
00:13:47,750 --> 00:13:51,083
it's a photograph
of Ella Watson's parents.
259
00:13:51,166 --> 00:13:54,166
So you're actually seeing four
generations of this family,
260
00:13:54,250 --> 00:13:55,541
all in one photograph
261
00:13:55,625 --> 00:13:58,541
that's composed in a very
sophisticated way.
262
00:14:01,125 --> 00:14:03,250
RAZ-RUSSO: That's
the turning point for him.
263
00:14:03,333 --> 00:14:05,708
It's there,
through this project,
264
00:14:05,791 --> 00:14:08,125
that he understands
how important it is
265
00:14:08,208 --> 00:14:10,000
to get to know his subject.
266
00:14:10,083 --> 00:14:12,416
To really try and depict
the humanity
267
00:14:12,500 --> 00:14:14,000
of the subjects
that he is photographing.
268
00:14:14,083 --> 00:14:17,541
♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
269
00:14:25,541 --> 00:14:28,291
-(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
-(BIRDS CHIRPING)
270
00:14:29,583 --> 00:14:31,375
MR. SMILEY: This is his way
of holding on to me,
271
00:14:31,458 --> 00:14:34,166
and I don't spend
enough time with him. (CHUCKLES)
272
00:14:35,541 --> 00:14:38,750
He says, "I got you now,
can't go nowhere." (CHUCKLES)
273
00:14:38,833 --> 00:14:41,291
-FRAZIER: "What do you mean?"
-MR. SMILEY: Yeah,
what you been doing?
274
00:14:41,375 --> 00:14:43,250
Leave me out here all by myself.
275
00:14:44,208 --> 00:14:46,625
FRAZIER: Look this way,
Mr. Smiley.
276
00:14:46,708 --> 00:14:50,583
When I read
Gordon's autobiography,
A Choice of Weapons,
277
00:14:50,666 --> 00:14:52,833
I mean, everything
that he went through
278
00:14:52,916 --> 00:14:56,750
to define himself
on his own terms
279
00:14:56,833 --> 00:14:58,750
and to say with the camera,
280
00:14:58,833 --> 00:15:01,416
"This is how I am going
to make my mark and change
281
00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:04,916
all the things that I don't like
about America, right."
282
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,625
It stays with me
because I grew up
283
00:15:08,708 --> 00:15:13,000
living in a dilapidated house
next to the railroad
284
00:15:13,083 --> 00:15:15,250
in an industrial small town,
285
00:15:15,333 --> 00:15:19,000
watching everyone kind of
disappear and the city shrink
286
00:15:19,083 --> 00:15:22,625
and have all our basic
human rights stripped from us.
287
00:15:22,708 --> 00:15:25,208
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
288
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,166
FRAZIER: I found the ability
to cope and move forward
through art.
289
00:15:34,250 --> 00:15:36,708
Right, it started out being
drawings and paintings
290
00:15:36,791 --> 00:15:39,083
and then eventually moving
into photography.
291
00:15:44,875 --> 00:15:47,750
Those photographs
are what enabled me
292
00:15:47,833 --> 00:15:49,666
to save my own life.
293
00:15:59,125 --> 00:16:03,791
In 2016, I was commissioned
by ELLE magazine
294
00:16:03,875 --> 00:16:08,208
and Hearst Corporation
to produce a photo essay
295
00:16:08,291 --> 00:16:10,541
about the Flint water crisis.
296
00:16:10,625 --> 00:16:13,750
REPORTER 1: It's not safe
to drink the water
in Flint, Michigan.
297
00:16:13,833 --> 00:16:16,375
REPORTER 2: Flint disconnected
its water supply through Detroit
298
00:16:16,458 --> 00:16:19,250
and began drawing water
from the Flint River instead.
299
00:16:19,333 --> 00:16:23,000
REPORTER 3: Highly corrosive
river water flowed through
the city's lead pipes,
300
00:16:23,083 --> 00:16:26,458
leaching lead into
the water supply.
301
00:16:26,541 --> 00:16:29,833
FRAZIER: That's how
Shea Cobb and I met
302
00:16:29,916 --> 00:16:33,666
and how I've built
this very robust friendship.
303
00:16:33,750 --> 00:16:37,750
It was for several months
that I was photographing Shea
304
00:16:37,833 --> 00:16:39,875
and her
eight-year-old daughter, Zion.
305
00:16:42,333 --> 00:16:45,916
And Shea was faced
with having to decide
306
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,458
to protect
her daughter's health,
307
00:16:48,541 --> 00:16:52,500
and the issue with lead is,
in an eight-year-old child,
308
00:16:52,583 --> 00:16:54,958
it's going to
leach into their brain.
309
00:16:56,333 --> 00:16:57,708
It couldn't have been
more than a week
310
00:16:57,791 --> 00:17:00,833
that I was photographing
Shea in Flint.
311
00:17:00,916 --> 00:17:02,958
She said her father
sent her something.
312
00:17:04,541 --> 00:17:07,416
And it's a picture of
her at the age of 12,
313
00:17:07,500 --> 00:17:11,375
taking her first sip of water
from a freshwater spring
314
00:17:11,458 --> 00:17:15,375
on the land where
her father lives in Mississippi,
315
00:17:16,750 --> 00:17:18,375
with a message that said,
316
00:17:18,458 --> 00:17:21,083
"This water won't kill you.
Come home."
317
00:17:22,833 --> 00:17:26,541
And so she makes the
decision to leave her mother
318
00:17:26,625 --> 00:17:31,083
and make the reverse migration
back to the South,
319
00:17:31,166 --> 00:17:32,791
where her father lives,
320
00:17:32,875 --> 00:17:36,666
on land that his family
has always owned.
321
00:17:36,750 --> 00:17:39,333
Oh wow!
He's gotten so much bigger.
322
00:17:39,416 --> 00:17:42,791
This is the one that
I was seeing that was a baby?
323
00:17:42,875 --> 00:17:47,041
When I started doing
karate moves, like to practice,
he thinks he can do it,
324
00:17:47,125 --> 00:17:50,333
so he holds onto stuff
and then fell flat on his butt.
325
00:17:50,416 --> 00:17:52,041
FRAZIER:
So I returned to Mississippi
326
00:17:52,125 --> 00:17:53,916
to continue a body of work
327
00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:57,708
that I'm committed to
with Shea Cobb,
328
00:17:57,791 --> 00:18:01,375
her daughter Zion,
who's now 12,
329
00:18:01,458 --> 00:18:06,125
and Shea's father,
Mr. Doug Smiley.
330
00:18:07,916 --> 00:18:11,416
MR. SMILEY:
Thank you, Lord, for this food
and all of our many blessings.
331
00:18:11,500 --> 00:18:14,833
-Thank you.
-ALL: Amen.
332
00:18:14,916 --> 00:18:19,625
FRAZIER: And so it was
a tumultuous time
to enter into Shea's life,
333
00:18:19,708 --> 00:18:21,625
and she didn't
have to trust me,
334
00:18:21,708 --> 00:18:24,166
but I think
it goes back to Gordon.
335
00:18:24,250 --> 00:18:26,791
You need to be present
336
00:18:26,875 --> 00:18:30,541
and talk to people
for as long as it takes.
337
00:18:32,375 --> 00:18:36,625
I get to know the person that is
the main subject of the work,
338
00:18:36,708 --> 00:18:39,291
and I learn to empathize...
339
00:18:40,500 --> 00:18:45,250
and also allow their feelings
to guide me through
340
00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:47,333
the landscape that they inhabit.
341
00:18:49,208 --> 00:18:51,791
This was, you know,
a real lesson
342
00:18:51,875 --> 00:18:53,291
about not only empathizing
343
00:18:53,375 --> 00:18:57,333
but listening and taking
the instructions
and allowing the images
344
00:18:57,416 --> 00:18:59,083
to be authored by someone else.
345
00:18:59,166 --> 00:19:01,583
Like,
that's a real collaboration.
346
00:19:01,666 --> 00:19:04,083
And I also knew
to take those cues
347
00:19:04,166 --> 00:19:08,958
because I had been
closely looking at Ralph Ellison
348
00:19:09,041 --> 00:19:13,666
and Gordon Parks's collaboration
in the late '40s.
349
00:19:13,750 --> 00:19:18,541
♪ (UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
350
00:19:18,625 --> 00:19:21,541
PARKS: Ralph Ellison wrote
Invisible Man.
351
00:19:21,625 --> 00:19:25,958
I did a story on the need
of psychiatric treatment
in Harlem.
352
00:19:31,375 --> 00:19:33,833
Ellison actually
writes a manifesto
353
00:19:33,916 --> 00:19:36,750
for Gordon Parks
titled the "Pictorial Problem."
354
00:19:38,583 --> 00:19:41,041
He wants
the photographs to function
355
00:19:41,125 --> 00:19:43,833
as both document and symbol.
356
00:19:43,916 --> 00:19:47,208
And this phrase becomes
a kind of guiding principle
357
00:19:47,291 --> 00:19:49,208
for Gordon Parks's
entire career.
358
00:19:53,125 --> 00:19:57,666
This idea that photographs
can transcend what is
just being depicted.
359
00:19:59,750 --> 00:20:04,750
FRAZIER: Ellison details a list
of certain kinds of images
360
00:20:04,833 --> 00:20:07,250
that he would like
Parks to make.
361
00:20:09,166 --> 00:20:13,916
Images that psychologically
impact the viewer.
362
00:20:16,541 --> 00:20:17,625
The feeling of a place
363
00:20:17,708 --> 00:20:21,333
and the feeling of being robbed
and dehumanized...
364
00:20:23,166 --> 00:20:26,500
in an undulating poetic
visual way.
365
00:20:29,875 --> 00:20:33,500
RAZ-RUSSO: Later in 1952,
Parks approaches Ralph Ellison.
366
00:20:33,583 --> 00:20:36,083
Ellison had just published
Invisible Man,
367
00:20:36,166 --> 00:20:38,750
and he says, "Let's create
another collaboration
368
00:20:38,833 --> 00:20:40,666
to celebrate the publication."
369
00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:46,333
They go out on
the streets once again
and they create photographs
370
00:20:46,416 --> 00:20:49,250
that represent nearly
every single scene in the book.
371
00:20:55,333 --> 00:20:58,000
LEE: This picture could
have been taken during slavery.
372
00:20:58,083 --> 00:20:59,625
We're all tryna watch out
373
00:20:59,708 --> 00:21:01,791
for the motherfuckin'
slave catchers.
374
00:21:02,833 --> 00:21:07,041
And my brother here
ran off the plantation.
375
00:21:08,250 --> 00:21:10,625
And he's running for his life.
376
00:21:14,708 --> 00:21:17,958
♪ (UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC FADES) ♪
377
00:21:18,041 --> 00:21:21,791
Parks takes the portfolio
of images that he shot
378
00:21:21,875 --> 00:21:25,333
for his collaboration
with Ralph Ellison in 1948
379
00:21:25,416 --> 00:21:26,958
to LIFE magazine,
380
00:21:27,041 --> 00:21:29,708
to pitch them a story
about a Harlem gang leader.
381
00:21:32,625 --> 00:21:34,958
BUNCH: LIFE magazine
was the Bible.
382
00:21:36,625 --> 00:21:39,291
People read the newspapers,
listened to the radio.
383
00:21:39,375 --> 00:21:44,208
But for many people,
it really was LIFE magazine
that helped them understand
384
00:21:44,291 --> 00:21:46,041
what was going on in America.
385
00:21:46,125 --> 00:21:47,416
PARKS:
I met the picture editor,
386
00:21:47,500 --> 00:21:50,416
who offered me
the great sum of 500 dollars
387
00:21:50,500 --> 00:21:52,000
to do the Harlem gang story.
388
00:21:53,750 --> 00:21:55,708
When I walked out of there,
I was frightened.
389
00:21:55,791 --> 00:21:59,333
How do you walk in and ask
the gang leader to let me
photograph your life
390
00:21:59,416 --> 00:22:00,875
when he's hiding
from the police?
391
00:22:03,291 --> 00:22:04,833
I used the broad approach
392
00:22:04,916 --> 00:22:06,875
when I first went up
to the police precinct
393
00:22:06,958 --> 00:22:09,875
and asked one of the detectives
if they knew such a gang leader.
394
00:22:09,958 --> 00:22:11,708
And they said,
"Yeah, we know plenty of them,
395
00:22:11,791 --> 00:22:13,625
but none of them gonna
let you photograph them."
396
00:22:15,208 --> 00:22:17,708
While I was in the precinct,
a young man walked in,
397
00:22:17,791 --> 00:22:21,750
and he literally cursed
the desk sergeant out
about something.
398
00:22:21,833 --> 00:22:25,166
And so I said
to my detective friend,
"Who is that guy?"
399
00:22:25,250 --> 00:22:29,625
He said, "That is
the most notorious gang leader
in all of Harlem."
400
00:22:32,375 --> 00:22:33,750
His name was Red Jackson.
401
00:22:33,833 --> 00:22:35,625
I told him
I was from LIFE magazine.
402
00:22:35,708 --> 00:22:38,083
I want to do a story on him,
very bluntly, you know.
403
00:22:38,166 --> 00:22:40,125
That's the way I got
into that story.
404
00:22:45,708 --> 00:22:47,250
I didn't take pictures
in the beginning.
405
00:22:47,333 --> 00:22:49,875
I just sort of sat with them
on the stoop in Harlem
406
00:22:49,958 --> 00:22:53,541
in the hot summer days
and listened to their talk.
407
00:22:53,625 --> 00:22:55,541
♪ (SOFT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
408
00:22:58,041 --> 00:23:00,458
PARKS: So one day he just said,
409
00:23:00,541 --> 00:23:02,666
"When are you going
to use your camera?"
410
00:23:02,750 --> 00:23:07,208
I said, "Oh, you know,
anytime something happens."
411
00:23:10,708 --> 00:23:14,666
This is like what he learned
from the Farm Security
Administration project
412
00:23:14,750 --> 00:23:16,416
he does with Ella Watson.
413
00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:19,250
He knows that he has to get
to know somebody really well
414
00:23:19,333 --> 00:23:20,250
and spend time with them.
415
00:23:20,333 --> 00:23:21,916
Red was a little apprehensive,
416
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,250
but they built
this great bond with each other,
417
00:23:24,333 --> 00:23:27,166
and Gordon recognized
his leadership ability,
418
00:23:27,250 --> 00:23:30,625
and they developed
a really unique relationship.
419
00:23:30,708 --> 00:23:33,666
PARKS: I stayed with his gang
about three months.
420
00:23:36,791 --> 00:23:40,333
MAURICE BERGER:
He photographed Red
in his everyday life.
421
00:23:40,416 --> 00:23:42,875
Being with his mother
in the kitchen cooking,
422
00:23:42,958 --> 00:23:44,375
washing the dishes,
423
00:23:46,166 --> 00:23:49,041
sitting with his brother while
his brother was reading.
424
00:23:50,083 --> 00:23:53,333
RAZ-RUSSO: His goal was
to create a story
425
00:23:53,416 --> 00:23:55,291
from an insider point of view.
426
00:23:57,666 --> 00:23:59,958
BUNCH:
He added levels of complexity
427
00:24:00,041 --> 00:24:04,125
and levels of understanding,
that you might not have gotten
in other photography.
428
00:24:06,916 --> 00:24:09,250
No one's a gangster
24 hours a day.
429
00:24:10,958 --> 00:24:12,916
Everyone who is a gangster
has a family.
430
00:24:17,541 --> 00:24:19,875
BROOKMAN:
He also photographs him
out on the streets...
431
00:24:21,041 --> 00:24:22,166
with members of his gang.
432
00:24:24,833 --> 00:24:26,958
He photographs
fights and violence.
433
00:24:28,833 --> 00:24:32,708
So it's a really interesting
look at the life of a young,
434
00:24:32,791 --> 00:24:34,291
you know, gang leader.
435
00:24:36,375 --> 00:24:39,375
PARKS: Two boys were killed
while I was with him.
436
00:24:39,458 --> 00:24:43,958
There's one picture in
the LIFE story of Herbie
lying in his coffin.
437
00:24:44,041 --> 00:24:46,708
He'd been stabbed in the neck
and parts of his head.
438
00:24:48,708 --> 00:24:52,666
And Red picked Herbie's head up
and felt the wounds,
439
00:24:52,750 --> 00:24:55,208
and said, "We're going
to do the same thing to them."
440
00:24:56,916 --> 00:24:59,500
SHABAZZ: I think that Gordon saw
himself in Red Jackson.
441
00:24:59,583 --> 00:25:01,541
Because if Gordon didn't pick
up the camera,
442
00:25:01,625 --> 00:25:03,416
he could have
easily been Red Jackson.
443
00:25:04,750 --> 00:25:07,416
He just saw a young man
that had a lot of potential.
444
00:25:07,500 --> 00:25:10,083
He was a leader.
He saw he didn't have a father.
445
00:25:10,166 --> 00:25:13,750
At the same time,
trying to show him in a light
446
00:25:13,833 --> 00:25:17,208
that will illuminate some
of the problems
that existed in Harlem
447
00:25:17,291 --> 00:25:20,666
in regards to poverty
and gang warfare and injustice.
448
00:25:28,166 --> 00:25:29,791
SHABAZZ:
How y'all feeling today?
449
00:25:29,875 --> 00:25:31,541
I like that outfit there,
young man.
450
00:25:31,625 --> 00:25:34,625
Can I borrow that jacket? Wow,
I like that haircut too, troop.
451
00:25:34,708 --> 00:25:36,500
Who hooked you up?
All right, here we go.
452
00:25:36,583 --> 00:25:38,125
I'm gonna say showtime,
and let's do it.
453
00:25:38,208 --> 00:25:39,208
You guys are ready?
454
00:25:39,291 --> 00:25:40,708
'Cause I think you guys are
gonna be famous.
455
00:25:40,791 --> 00:25:42,250
All right, here we go. Ready?
456
00:25:42,333 --> 00:25:44,666
-All right, look at me.
I think you guys got it.
-(CAMERA CLICKING)
457
00:25:44,750 --> 00:25:47,833
Gordon spoke about
the power of photography
and imagery
458
00:25:47,916 --> 00:25:51,250
and how you could use the
camera as a weapon.
459
00:25:51,333 --> 00:25:55,000
It's through
the photography that I want
to really express myself.
460
00:25:55,083 --> 00:25:58,791
That gave me a voice
'cause prior to that I was lost.
461
00:25:58,875 --> 00:26:01,916
I fell victim to the streets,
but once I picked up the camera,
462
00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:03,291
it became my compass.
463
00:26:04,875 --> 00:26:06,375
I have a tool that I can use,
464
00:26:06,458 --> 00:26:08,000
not only to document
the community
465
00:26:08,083 --> 00:26:09,708
but to save lives
at the same time.
466
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,250
Gordon spoke
about the 35 millimeter
467
00:26:13,333 --> 00:26:15,541
and how it could be
a more effective weapon.
468
00:26:15,625 --> 00:26:17,083
And that really resonated
with me
469
00:26:17,166 --> 00:26:18,666
because I grew up
in a gun culture,
470
00:26:18,750 --> 00:26:21,250
you know with the
nine millimeters.
471
00:26:21,333 --> 00:26:23,500
It was the empathy that he had
for his subjects
472
00:26:23,583 --> 00:26:25,500
that I thought was
really powerful.
473
00:26:25,583 --> 00:26:28,375
You had Red Jackson,
his difficult life coming up.
474
00:26:29,916 --> 00:26:31,958
Gordon just wanted
to be like a mentor and a guide.
475
00:26:34,333 --> 00:26:36,916
I spent 20 years in
the Department of Corrections.
476
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:40,041
When the opportunity came
to work on Rikers Island,
477
00:26:40,125 --> 00:26:42,083
I accepted it
as my new assignment.
478
00:26:42,166 --> 00:26:46,375
NEWS REPORTER:
Crack is causing an increase in
murder and other violent crime.
479
00:26:46,458 --> 00:26:48,625
SHABAZZ: This is right around
the same time
480
00:26:48,708 --> 00:26:50,166
that the crack epidemic hit.
481
00:26:51,375 --> 00:26:52,625
So now I'm in this space,
482
00:26:52,708 --> 00:26:55,041
and I'm seeing
the impact of drugs
483
00:26:55,125 --> 00:26:56,875
and the lack of
rehabilitation.
484
00:26:58,208 --> 00:27:00,500
I'm taking my camera
to the job every day.
485
00:27:00,583 --> 00:27:02,125
I'm documenting
the world inside.
486
00:27:02,208 --> 00:27:04,875
I'm witnessing
brutality and hatred.
487
00:27:04,958 --> 00:27:08,208
I felt it was my responsibility
to talk to young people
488
00:27:08,291 --> 00:27:09,333
about what was going on
489
00:27:09,416 --> 00:27:11,000
because a lot of young men
were dying
490
00:27:11,083 --> 00:27:12,833
at the hands of other young men.
491
00:27:12,916 --> 00:27:15,708
And I was very troubled by
what I was seeing.
492
00:27:15,791 --> 00:27:18,208
So I would place myself
in different positions
493
00:27:18,291 --> 00:27:20,833
where young people would be at,
and I would approach them.
494
00:27:23,250 --> 00:27:26,291
If I saw a group, I would look
at the leader and say,
495
00:27:26,375 --> 00:27:28,708
"You know, with all due respect,
I'm a photographer,
496
00:27:28,791 --> 00:27:30,250
when I look at you,
I see greatness.
497
00:27:30,333 --> 00:27:32,500
If you don't mind, I'd like to
take a photograph
498
00:27:32,583 --> 00:27:33,791
of you and your crew."
499
00:27:36,083 --> 00:27:37,666
And then I would start
posing them.
500
00:27:37,750 --> 00:27:39,125
And then
they would create poses.
501
00:27:39,208 --> 00:27:40,708
and the poses gave it life.
502
00:27:41,916 --> 00:27:44,125
♪ (JOYFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
503
00:27:45,791 --> 00:27:49,250
SHABAZZ: Once the film roll
was completed, I would put
the film in the shop,
504
00:27:49,333 --> 00:27:52,291
I would come back in an hour,
and I would go back to the
location,
505
00:27:52,375 --> 00:27:53,791
I would give out prints.
506
00:27:57,500 --> 00:27:59,916
It let them know that
they weren't invisible.
507
00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,500
As kids, we could
just tear each other down.
508
00:28:02,583 --> 00:28:04,500
I use the camera
to build people up
509
00:28:04,583 --> 00:28:06,125
and let people feel special.
510
00:28:15,041 --> 00:28:16,500
A lot of them
were really receptive
511
00:28:16,583 --> 00:28:18,875
to hearing what I was saying
'cause I'm speaking in real
time.
512
00:28:18,958 --> 00:28:21,041
Just a few hours ago,
I was on Rikers Island,
513
00:28:21,125 --> 00:28:23,125
and I witnessed, you know,
people getting stabbed
514
00:28:23,208 --> 00:28:25,208
and individuals that thought
that they can handle it,
515
00:28:25,291 --> 00:28:26,958
and they couldn't.
And they would listen.
516
00:28:27,041 --> 00:28:31,000
So I was trying to
encourage them to be better.
You know, I didn't want to see
517
00:28:31,083 --> 00:28:33,708
no more
of these young men incarcerated.
518
00:28:34,708 --> 00:28:37,625
♪ (JOYFUL MUSIC FADES) ♪
519
00:28:37,708 --> 00:28:40,958
I owe a lot of
where I'm at right now to Gordon
520
00:28:41,041 --> 00:28:43,916
because we didn't have a lot
of Black photographers
to mirror,
521
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,333
you know, when I was coming up.
Gordon was that pathfinder.
522
00:28:49,833 --> 00:28:51,916
NARRATOR: LIFE magazine
is the headquarters
523
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,708
for photographer Gordon Parks
524
00:28:53,791 --> 00:28:55,250
on the staff of the popular
525
00:28:55,333 --> 00:28:58,291
pictorial news magazine
since 1949.
526
00:28:58,375 --> 00:29:01,583
And a man who stands
at the top of his profession.
527
00:29:01,666 --> 00:29:03,375
BROOKMAN:
Because of the success of
528
00:29:03,458 --> 00:29:06,916
"Harlem Gang Leader",
Parks was hired onto the staff
529
00:29:07,000 --> 00:29:10,041
as the first African American
photographer at LIFE,
530
00:29:10,125 --> 00:29:12,750
which was a really big deal.
531
00:29:12,833 --> 00:29:17,166
This was entry into the media
that was seen internationally.
532
00:29:17,250 --> 00:29:19,833
NARRATOR: Parks's work
is amongst the finest
in a magazine,
533
00:29:19,916 --> 00:29:21,833
noted for
photographic excellence.
534
00:29:21,916 --> 00:29:25,166
BERGER: By the mid-1950s,
Parks had already become,
535
00:29:25,250 --> 00:29:28,500
for want of a better word,
very established.
536
00:29:28,583 --> 00:29:32,916
JELANI COBB: He really does have
that internally solid
537
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,375
perseverance kind of
quality to him.
538
00:29:37,541 --> 00:29:39,708
PARKS:
I've tried to use the camera
539
00:29:39,791 --> 00:29:41,750
to sort of
correct the things that
540
00:29:41,833 --> 00:29:45,541
I experienced as a young Black
man coming up in America.
541
00:29:46,916 --> 00:29:49,250
COBB:
And then with all that
542
00:29:49,333 --> 00:29:52,333
Black people
were confronting at that point,
543
00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:55,333
it requires a great deal
of temerity
544
00:29:55,416 --> 00:29:59,000
to say that you're going
to change that with your camera.
545
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:07,541
BERGER:
In 1956, LIFE sent Gordon
to Alabama
546
00:30:07,625 --> 00:30:12,000
to do a story about segregation
in the Jim Crow South.
547
00:30:14,666 --> 00:30:17,375
KHALIL MUHAMMAD:
Dispatches coming out
of the south
548
00:30:17,458 --> 00:30:21,500
are the usual reporting
on racial violence.
549
00:30:23,750 --> 00:30:27,000
COBB:
In 1955, just months before
550
00:30:27,083 --> 00:30:29,500
Gordon Parks traveled
to Alabama,
551
00:30:29,583 --> 00:30:33,250
Emmett Till was
brutally tortured and killed
552
00:30:33,333 --> 00:30:34,833
in Money, Mississippi.
553
00:30:37,416 --> 00:30:39,958
If the death of my son
can mean something
554
00:30:40,041 --> 00:30:43,250
to the other unfortunate people
all over the world,
555
00:30:43,333 --> 00:30:46,708
then for him
to have died a hero
556
00:30:46,791 --> 00:30:50,666
would mean more to me
than for him just to have died.
557
00:30:50,750 --> 00:30:54,250
COBB: His mother Mamie allowed
Jet magazine to publish
558
00:30:54,333 --> 00:30:58,833
the images of his defiled,
desecrated body.
559
00:31:02,083 --> 00:31:04,708
I saw Emmett Till's
photograph in Jet magazine.
560
00:31:07,541 --> 00:31:08,958
I'll never forget it.
561
00:31:10,750 --> 00:31:12,208
I still get very emotional.
562
00:31:14,625 --> 00:31:17,500
I was eight years old
when Emmett Till was murdered
563
00:31:17,583 --> 00:31:19,458
and I didn't...
I-- Wh-- What--
564
00:31:19,541 --> 00:31:21,833
What was that all about?
I couldn't understand it.
565
00:31:24,541 --> 00:31:26,625
COBB: That photograph
was really evidence
566
00:31:26,708 --> 00:31:27,875
of what could happen to you
567
00:31:27,958 --> 00:31:30,416
as a Black person
in the deep South,
568
00:31:30,500 --> 00:31:32,708
and that was the world
that Gordon Parks
569
00:31:32,791 --> 00:31:35,208
was stepping into in 1956.
570
00:31:41,708 --> 00:31:45,083
Gordon liked to embody
whatever subject
571
00:31:45,166 --> 00:31:47,208
he had been asked
by his editors
572
00:31:47,291 --> 00:31:50,666
to represent in a family.
573
00:31:50,750 --> 00:31:53,125
Because he knew that the readers
of LIFE magazine
574
00:31:53,208 --> 00:31:56,916
would be innately sympathetic
to the circumstances of a child,
575
00:31:57,000 --> 00:31:58,708
of a family, and of a community.
576
00:32:01,208 --> 00:32:03,583
Those photographs had
tremendous impact
577
00:32:03,666 --> 00:32:05,333
partly because of the color.
578
00:32:08,750 --> 00:32:12,041
At that time,
a searing photo essay
in the pages of LIFE
579
00:32:12,125 --> 00:32:14,458
was practically expected
to be in black and white.
580
00:32:19,166 --> 00:32:23,666
STEVENSON: He wanted that color
to implicate people seeing this,
581
00:32:23,750 --> 00:32:28,125
so that they would understand
this is your America right now.
582
00:32:31,625 --> 00:32:34,333
People were told
that segregation was benign.
583
00:32:34,416 --> 00:32:36,500
It's okay,
Black people want it.
584
00:32:36,583 --> 00:32:37,916
That's not what you see
585
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,125
when you see his images
and the hurt and the exclusion
586
00:32:41,208 --> 00:32:42,916
that these families present.
587
00:32:45,208 --> 00:32:48,333
These children are
literally excluded by this fence
588
00:32:48,416 --> 00:32:50,833
that they cannot pass.
589
00:32:50,916 --> 00:32:52,125
STEVENSON: Even from behind,
590
00:32:52,208 --> 00:32:54,375
he's able to convey
their sense of longing
591
00:32:54,458 --> 00:32:56,166
to be able
to go into that space.
592
00:33:00,833 --> 00:33:03,125
ALLEN: He can take
something that's so negative,
593
00:33:03,208 --> 00:33:05,041
but when you
first digest it and look at it,
594
00:33:05,125 --> 00:33:06,750
before you start
to unpack everything,
595
00:33:06,833 --> 00:33:09,416
it's like super warm, and it
just like blows you away.
596
00:33:09,500 --> 00:33:11,916
I think he was really good
at even things
597
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:13,416
that might have been
598
00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:16,875
uncomfortable for, as a
Black person to capture
599
00:33:16,958 --> 00:33:18,833
but he has this thing where
the way he frames stuff,
600
00:33:18,916 --> 00:33:22,000
it draws you in, and it makes
you wanna have a conversation.
601
00:33:24,375 --> 00:33:26,291
There's an elegance.
Even, there's an elegance,
602
00:33:26,375 --> 00:33:29,291
even to his
depictions of evil, basically.
603
00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:33,125
DUVERNAY: It's her dress
that does it for me
604
00:33:33,208 --> 00:33:38,208
and the earring, and the purse,
and the perfectly matched shoes.
605
00:33:38,833 --> 00:33:40,166
She's a queen,
606
00:33:40,250 --> 00:33:42,625
and yet she has
to have a separate entrance
607
00:33:42,708 --> 00:33:44,875
from the White woman
in the red dress
608
00:33:44,958 --> 00:33:46,708
that's further down the street.
609
00:33:48,375 --> 00:33:53,166
BERGER: Mrs. Joanne Wilson
was walking with her young niece
610
00:33:53,250 --> 00:33:55,666
by a segregated movie theatre,
611
00:33:55,750 --> 00:33:59,208
and the little girl
smelled popcorn.
612
00:33:59,291 --> 00:34:03,541
I interviewed Mrs. Wilson
60 years after
that photograph was taken.
613
00:34:03,625 --> 00:34:07,791
And she said,
"I was feeling a sense
of almost panic of what to do.
614
00:34:07,875 --> 00:34:10,000
I wasn't going
to take my niece
615
00:34:10,083 --> 00:34:13,208
into a segregated back entrance.
I wouldn't do it."
616
00:34:15,458 --> 00:34:16,791
So I asked Mrs. Wilson
617
00:34:16,875 --> 00:34:19,000
about the experience
of the shoot,
618
00:34:19,083 --> 00:34:22,083
and I said, "Was there anything
about it that upset you
619
00:34:22,166 --> 00:34:23,500
or bothered you?"
and she said,
620
00:34:23,583 --> 00:34:24,750
and she loved Gordon,
621
00:34:24,833 --> 00:34:26,916
and she said, "Yes.
622
00:34:27,000 --> 00:34:29,458
When I looked at
the photograph, I realized that
623
00:34:29,541 --> 00:34:31,750
the strap
of my slip had fallen.
624
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,708
I was a proud Black woman
in Alabama,
625
00:34:35,791 --> 00:34:39,250
and I never left my house
not being dressed perfectly."
626
00:34:41,500 --> 00:34:42,791
I understand how she felt,
627
00:34:42,875 --> 00:34:45,083
but I don't think that Gordon
would have told her
628
00:34:45,166 --> 00:34:47,291
to adjust the strap
because for him
629
00:34:47,375 --> 00:34:49,666
it represented
something remarkable.
630
00:34:50,958 --> 00:34:52,666
She was distracted.
631
00:34:52,750 --> 00:34:56,250
You cannot be a mother
or even human
632
00:34:56,333 --> 00:34:59,916
and not see that little moment
of drama in a photograph
633
00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,000
and not feel a sense
of affiliation with Mrs. Wilson.
634
00:35:08,666 --> 00:35:13,125
DARREN WALKER: Gordon Parks's
photography demanded
635
00:35:13,208 --> 00:35:16,750
that America look at itself.
636
00:35:16,833 --> 00:35:22,416
His work did what art does
at its very best.
637
00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:28,500
It makes the viewer
engage deeply in the subject.
638
00:35:28,583 --> 00:35:32,541
And to see
narratives about life,
639
00:35:32,625 --> 00:35:34,500
about our history.
640
00:35:34,583 --> 00:35:38,041
So when you look at those
beautiful photographs,
641
00:35:38,125 --> 00:35:40,833
what you saw was dignity
642
00:35:40,916 --> 00:35:46,833
in the face of remarkable
discrimination and bigotry.
643
00:35:48,291 --> 00:35:52,500
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
644
00:35:52,583 --> 00:35:54,041
And rising...
645
00:35:56,833 --> 00:35:58,708
You got to wait for him
to rise, folks.
646
00:36:00,083 --> 00:36:02,500
Okay, now rise behind him.
You got to look for him.
647
00:36:03,500 --> 00:36:04,875
One of the things
about Mr. Parks
648
00:36:04,958 --> 00:36:08,916
that had been
really inspiring and informative
649
00:36:09,041 --> 00:36:12,416
is the idea that
if I pick up my camera,
650
00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:14,500
I can say something
and show something,
651
00:36:14,583 --> 00:36:16,041
and that I will be heard,
652
00:36:16,125 --> 00:36:18,916
and that it will be seen,
and a story will be told.
653
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:20,083
Action!
654
00:36:20,166 --> 00:36:22,416
And that my camera gives me
the power to do that.
655
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,375
To think of the camera
as a weapon is a strong way
656
00:36:26,458 --> 00:36:29,041
to think about it and something
that I have come to embrace.
657
00:36:31,958 --> 00:36:34,791
Some of my favorite work
of his is in color.
658
00:36:34,875 --> 00:36:37,541
There's something
about the color
that feels very painterly
659
00:36:37,625 --> 00:36:40,875
in a way that's different
from the black and white.
660
00:36:40,958 --> 00:36:44,625
I remember looking
at those photos,
and I look at them often.
661
00:36:44,708 --> 00:36:47,375
They inform, even choices
that I make in cinematography
662
00:36:47,458 --> 00:36:48,541
for my films.
663
00:36:49,791 --> 00:36:51,083
There's a photo that I love.
664
00:36:51,166 --> 00:36:52,791
It's a little boy
sitting in a field,
665
00:36:52,875 --> 00:36:54,833
and he has an "X" on his head
666
00:36:54,916 --> 00:36:56,375
that's like a target.
667
00:36:58,375 --> 00:36:59,958
That image just says so much.
668
00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:06,083
The rest, the relaxation,
the intimacy,
669
00:37:06,166 --> 00:37:08,041
juxtaposed against the poverty.
670
00:37:12,208 --> 00:37:13,583
We think of photography,
I think,
671
00:37:13,666 --> 00:37:16,250
as like a solitary art practice.
672
00:37:19,666 --> 00:37:21,000
It's the photographer
and their camera,
673
00:37:21,083 --> 00:37:24,208
but really, they're in
relationship with their subject.
674
00:37:26,000 --> 00:37:28,916
When I look at his work,
I think, "God!
How'd he get that?"
675
00:37:30,041 --> 00:37:31,875
The ease and the intimacy
676
00:37:31,958 --> 00:37:34,333
that comes through
in so much of his work.
677
00:37:36,500 --> 00:37:38,958
The process with actors is
you're trying to achieve
678
00:37:39,041 --> 00:37:41,083
the same ends of intimacy,
of a connection...
679
00:37:41,166 --> 00:37:42,250
Action!
680
00:37:42,333 --> 00:37:44,500
...of an understanding
of the material and each other,
681
00:37:44,583 --> 00:37:47,125
so that you can get
to those true places.
682
00:37:47,208 --> 00:37:49,625
Pent up emotions
and inattention
683
00:37:49,708 --> 00:37:51,958
would have led
to an uncontrollable,
684
00:37:52,041 --> 00:37:53,791
retaliatory situation.
685
00:37:53,875 --> 00:37:57,958
Well done. We're good.
Looking good. Thank you.
686
00:37:58,041 --> 00:38:00,125
DUVERNAY: The thing
for Black filmmakers is
687
00:38:00,208 --> 00:38:02,708
for far too long
we've been relegated to
688
00:38:02,791 --> 00:38:04,875
one set of tools, if any.
689
00:38:04,958 --> 00:38:07,916
One of the things
about Mr. Parks is the ability
690
00:38:08,000 --> 00:38:13,041
to work within many boxes
and to use many tools.
691
00:38:13,833 --> 00:38:17,833
♪ (CALM MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
692
00:38:26,125 --> 00:38:28,125
RAZ-RUSSO: If one were
to look at the entirety
693
00:38:28,208 --> 00:38:29,333
of Gordon Parks's career,
694
00:38:29,416 --> 00:38:31,666
you would be struck by
the range of work that he did.
695
00:38:33,125 --> 00:38:36,708
It's absolutely fascinating
how he's able to bounce around
696
00:38:36,791 --> 00:38:39,166
from photojournalism
to fashion photography,
697
00:38:39,250 --> 00:38:43,416
to portraiture, to abstraction,
and everything in between.
698
00:38:43,500 --> 00:38:48,125
And yet somehow, it's all tied
together by his approach,
699
00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000
the idea
that he's fully invested
700
00:38:52,083 --> 00:38:54,125
in every single one
of his subjects.
701
00:38:57,958 --> 00:39:00,166
NELSON GEORGE:
His whole thing was to be there
702
00:39:00,250 --> 00:39:02,833
and have a point of view.
Definitely had a point of view
703
00:39:02,916 --> 00:39:05,541
about Black liberation,
Black freedom,
704
00:39:05,625 --> 00:39:08,083
White oppression, uh, fashion.
705
00:39:12,500 --> 00:39:14,458
But not to impose
that in the environment,
706
00:39:14,541 --> 00:39:16,166
to be able to be there
707
00:39:16,250 --> 00:39:19,750
and find those moments where,
"Boom, boom, boom."
708
00:39:30,208 --> 00:39:31,541
My mom and Gordon Parks met
709
00:39:31,625 --> 00:39:33,375
on a photo shoot
for LIFE magazine.
710
00:39:35,458 --> 00:39:38,041
She was gonna be
in a play called The Swan
711
00:39:38,125 --> 00:39:41,875
and Gordon was
the photographer assigned to it.
712
00:39:41,958 --> 00:39:43,666
They just instantly
sort of clicked.
713
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,583
My mom, I mean,
you couldn't have more
different circumstances,
714
00:39:49,666 --> 00:39:51,875
she grew up obviously surrounded
by great wealth.
715
00:39:55,833 --> 00:39:58,416
She said that this was the
first African American person
716
00:39:58,500 --> 00:39:59,833
she really became friends with.
717
00:40:01,833 --> 00:40:03,916
I think they did connect
as artists.
718
00:40:05,833 --> 00:40:08,291
That was the beginning
of what would become
719
00:40:08,375 --> 00:40:10,250
this extraordinary
lifelong friendship.
720
00:40:12,500 --> 00:40:15,250
I always knew there was more
to their relationship
721
00:40:15,333 --> 00:40:16,916
than he was just a family friend
722
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,750
who would spend weekends
out in Long Island with us.
723
00:40:22,500 --> 00:40:23,833
But I knew Gordon's work
724
00:40:23,916 --> 00:40:25,791
from the time I was a kid.
I followed it.
725
00:40:28,333 --> 00:40:30,791
He had the ability
to tell other people's stories
726
00:40:30,875 --> 00:40:33,833
and the ability to enmesh
yourself in somebody else's life
727
00:40:33,916 --> 00:40:35,541
and to document it.
728
00:40:35,625 --> 00:40:37,083
I just found that amazing.
729
00:40:39,791 --> 00:40:42,625
GEORGE: Gordon was this guy
who could connect
with all of these people,
730
00:40:42,708 --> 00:40:45,208
and not necessarily
be everyone's best friend,
731
00:40:45,291 --> 00:40:48,041
but gain respect enough
to move in their spaces.
732
00:40:49,791 --> 00:40:52,916
As a photographer, and I learned
myself as a journalist,
733
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,083
the ability to be there
and be present
734
00:40:55,166 --> 00:40:56,375
but not to interfere.
735
00:40:57,250 --> 00:40:59,291
To be able to sit back,
736
00:40:59,375 --> 00:41:02,375
let it happen, observe closely
what's going on,
737
00:41:02,458 --> 00:41:04,083
and find out what's
interesting about it.
738
00:41:04,166 --> 00:41:05,833
He had that ability,
and it comes through
739
00:41:05,916 --> 00:41:07,375
in all of his photography.
740
00:41:08,958 --> 00:41:15,916
♪ (MELLOW JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
741
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:19,541
BERGER:
In 1957, LIFE sent Gordon
742
00:41:19,625 --> 00:41:22,625
to photograph
the American crime crisis.
743
00:41:23,750 --> 00:41:28,250
♪ (JAZZ MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪
744
00:41:28,333 --> 00:41:32,333
He represented
crime as an ambiguity.
745
00:41:38,041 --> 00:41:40,500
It deracialized
the story of crime.
746
00:41:42,125 --> 00:41:45,125
There were White criminals.
There were Black criminals.
747
00:41:48,750 --> 00:41:52,541
He also showed
the humanity around crime.
748
00:41:53,791 --> 00:41:56,291
STEVENSON:
It challenges this notion
749
00:41:56,375 --> 00:41:58,791
that a criminal
is someone who is
750
00:41:58,875 --> 00:42:01,333
entirely loathsome,
entirely evil.
751
00:42:07,666 --> 00:42:10,958
There's an incredible
photograph of a prison cell.
752
00:42:11,041 --> 00:42:15,958
You see a hand leaning over one
of the bars with a cigarette,
753
00:42:16,041 --> 00:42:19,250
but on the bottom, you see
the hand grabbing the bar.
754
00:42:22,625 --> 00:42:25,333
What you see is the anxiety
755
00:42:26,708 --> 00:42:28,416
of the person behind bars.
756
00:42:30,375 --> 00:42:33,208
ALLEN: Gordon was able
to tell both sides of the story.
757
00:42:33,291 --> 00:42:35,458
Being able to go
into a police station
758
00:42:35,541 --> 00:42:37,666
and shooting
from that perspective.
759
00:42:39,541 --> 00:42:43,958
As an artist, we are the medium
between opposing sides,
760
00:42:44,041 --> 00:42:45,833
and we are
the only ones that can actually
761
00:42:45,916 --> 00:42:48,458
create that narrative
to even start a conversation.
762
00:42:58,500 --> 00:43:00,250
♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
763
00:43:01,500 --> 00:43:03,250
STEVENSON: You cannot be
a person of color
764
00:43:03,333 --> 00:43:04,916
growing up in the urban north
765
00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,000
and not be mindful
of the way in which
766
00:43:08,083 --> 00:43:10,083
police officers were symbols.
767
00:43:10,166 --> 00:43:12,416
They represented
threat and menace.
768
00:43:12,500 --> 00:43:14,458
My cousins lived
in North Philadelphia,
769
00:43:14,541 --> 00:43:16,125
and when we would go
spend time with them,
770
00:43:16,208 --> 00:43:17,875
there was a
completely foreign environment.
771
00:43:17,958 --> 00:43:19,875
And my cousin would say,
772
00:43:19,958 --> 00:43:22,083
"If you see a gang coming down
one street
773
00:43:22,166 --> 00:43:24,666
and you see the police
coming down another street,
774
00:43:24,750 --> 00:43:26,166
both of them are dangerous,
775
00:43:26,250 --> 00:43:28,916
but run toward the gang,
not toward the police."
776
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:31,583
And it wasn't because people
didn't want law and order.
777
00:43:31,666 --> 00:43:35,500
They did. They just didn't want
it imposed through abuse.
778
00:43:36,458 --> 00:43:38,458
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
779
00:43:38,541 --> 00:43:41,625
STEVENSON:
And Parks got it, you know,
in the images presented.
780
00:43:50,958 --> 00:43:53,541
That image where he shows
those police officers
781
00:43:53,625 --> 00:43:57,041
crashing down a door,
gun in hand.
782
00:43:57,125 --> 00:43:58,708
There's a kind of violence.
783
00:43:58,791 --> 00:44:02,125
Can you imagine being
on the other side of this door?
784
00:44:04,083 --> 00:44:07,958
So it's a really powerful image
to contradict this idea
785
00:44:08,041 --> 00:44:10,541
that these are the people
who make us safe.
786
00:44:10,625 --> 00:44:12,416
You know,
I see this and I think,
787
00:44:12,500 --> 00:44:15,291
"Keep me as far away
from these guys as possible."
788
00:44:17,500 --> 00:44:20,625
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC FADES) ♪
789
00:44:28,333 --> 00:44:32,458
STEVENSON: Using the rule of law
is certainly a way
790
00:44:32,541 --> 00:44:36,541
to fight against
inequality and injustice.
791
00:44:40,666 --> 00:44:44,125
But I have recognized
that that's not enough.
792
00:44:44,208 --> 00:44:46,958
Now I see myself
very much engaged in...
793
00:44:48,250 --> 00:44:51,541
in narrative work
and using narrative tools
794
00:44:51,625 --> 00:44:54,500
to fight against
inequality and injustice,
795
00:44:54,583 --> 00:44:58,125
and that's the reason why
it makes perfect sense to us
796
00:44:58,208 --> 00:44:59,333
to build a museum.
797
00:45:01,458 --> 00:45:05,333
The primary goal is to
tell a story about our history
798
00:45:05,416 --> 00:45:07,083
that shakes people sufficiently.
799
00:45:07,166 --> 00:45:09,083
You're motivated
to say, "Never again"
800
00:45:09,166 --> 00:45:12,291
to racial bigotry and bias.
801
00:45:16,208 --> 00:45:18,625
Gordon Parks became central
802
00:45:18,708 --> 00:45:20,791
to the way we wanted
to talk about our imagery
803
00:45:20,875 --> 00:45:23,208
and storytelling through
photography.
804
00:45:28,500 --> 00:45:33,125
Narrative work is how Parks
changed hearts and minds.
805
00:45:37,875 --> 00:45:38,833
You can change laws,
806
00:45:38,916 --> 00:45:41,250
but if you don't, kind of,
work on people
807
00:45:41,333 --> 00:45:45,250
and the psychology behind
bigotry and exclusion,
808
00:45:45,333 --> 00:45:46,833
then you're not
gonna make any progress.
809
00:45:51,750 --> 00:45:55,291
And Parks understood early
that he had a role to play
810
00:45:55,375 --> 00:45:57,083
if we were gonna kind of
shape the things
811
00:45:57,166 --> 00:45:59,375
that people believe
about equality.
812
00:46:04,625 --> 00:46:07,583
You know,
as a photographer for LIFE,
813
00:46:07,666 --> 00:46:10,250
you look at publications
like that.
814
00:46:15,291 --> 00:46:18,416
And in this very subtle way,
this notion of
815
00:46:18,500 --> 00:46:21,458
who is an American
was being reinforced.
816
00:46:21,541 --> 00:46:23,791
Week after week,
month after month.
817
00:46:23,875 --> 00:46:29,041
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
818
00:46:29,125 --> 00:46:32,375
STEVENSON:
And so Parks's images
really disrupted that.
819
00:46:35,541 --> 00:46:37,541
If you had to see
this Black family
820
00:46:37,625 --> 00:46:38,833
in one of his photos
821
00:46:38,916 --> 00:46:41,041
juxtaposed with
these White families
822
00:46:41,125 --> 00:46:42,541
in these ads,
823
00:46:42,625 --> 00:46:45,416
it caused you to kind of think
just a little differently.
824
00:46:45,500 --> 00:46:51,500
It raised questions
about who is an American.
825
00:46:57,458 --> 00:47:00,125
Gordon Parks
was often criticized
826
00:47:00,208 --> 00:47:01,625
as much as he was applauded
827
00:47:01,708 --> 00:47:03,375
for his position
at LIFE magazine,
828
00:47:03,458 --> 00:47:08,166
and he was very aware of
being in a conflicted position.
829
00:47:08,250 --> 00:47:13,166
He talks about how he was seen
as often going in
830
00:47:13,250 --> 00:47:15,500
as LIFE's, quote,
"Black photographer,"
831
00:47:15,583 --> 00:47:18,500
and creating stories
that were meant to appeal
832
00:47:18,583 --> 00:47:20,125
to a White audience.
833
00:47:20,208 --> 00:47:22,083
At the same time,
he understood that
834
00:47:22,166 --> 00:47:25,416
when he was covering stories
that had to do with race,
835
00:47:25,500 --> 00:47:27,416
that he was in a unique position
836
00:47:27,500 --> 00:47:30,041
to tell those stories
from his point of view.
837
00:47:30,125 --> 00:47:34,500
And a great example of that
was in 1963, when he was sent
838
00:47:34,583 --> 00:47:36,416
to do a story about
the Nation of Islam.
839
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:40,333
MALCOLM X: America
is a White man's country.
840
00:47:40,416 --> 00:47:42,833
A country
that was stolen by the White man
841
00:47:42,916 --> 00:47:44,500
from the dark-skinned Indians,
842
00:47:44,583 --> 00:47:49,041
who then kidnapped our people
and brought us here in chains.
843
00:47:49,125 --> 00:47:52,208
PARKS: I saw Malcolm for
the very first time in person
844
00:47:52,291 --> 00:47:55,500
on the corner of 125th Street
and 7th Avenue.
845
00:47:55,583 --> 00:47:58,708
MALCOLM: There's no such thing
as justice in this country
846
00:47:58,791 --> 00:48:00,000
for a Black man.
847
00:48:00,083 --> 00:48:02,666
And there's no such thing
as equality in this country
848
00:48:02,750 --> 00:48:04,291
for a Black man.
849
00:48:04,375 --> 00:48:07,291
This is a White man's country!
850
00:48:07,375 --> 00:48:10,541
PARKS:
The first thing I asked him
was about the possibility
851
00:48:10,625 --> 00:48:13,000
of my covering
the Black Muslims.
852
00:48:13,083 --> 00:48:15,250
And he said, "Well,
the honorable Elijah Muhammad
853
00:48:15,333 --> 00:48:16,791
would have to decide that."
854
00:48:18,791 --> 00:48:20,958
Malcolm and I flew
to Phoenix, Arizona.
855
00:48:21,041 --> 00:48:23,041
The first thing Elijah Muhammad
said to me was,
856
00:48:23,125 --> 00:48:25,000
"Why are you working
for the White devils?"
857
00:48:26,333 --> 00:48:29,458
I said, "Well, you know,
you've heard of
858
00:48:30,500 --> 00:48:32,208
getting behind the iron horse
859
00:48:32,291 --> 00:48:33,625
and finding out
what's going on?"
860
00:48:33,708 --> 00:48:35,458
He said, "I don't buy that."
861
00:48:35,541 --> 00:48:36,625
(LAUGHS)
862
00:48:36,708 --> 00:48:39,750
Well, in any case,
he said, "We'll give you a try.
863
00:48:39,833 --> 00:48:42,166
Brother Malcolm is
gonna escort you through
864
00:48:42,250 --> 00:48:45,291
the world of Islam,
and if I like what you do,
865
00:48:45,375 --> 00:48:47,958
I'll send you
a big box of cigars.
866
00:48:48,041 --> 00:48:51,500
If I don't like what you do,
we'll be out to visit you."
867
00:48:51,583 --> 00:48:53,000
(LAUGHS)
868
00:48:53,083 --> 00:48:55,750
And that's the way
Malcolm and I got started.
869
00:48:55,833 --> 00:48:58,333
MALCOLM: In the name of Allah,
the beneficent, the merciful,
870
00:48:58,416 --> 00:48:59,916
to whom all praise is due.
871
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,458
Whom we forever thank
for giving us
872
00:49:02,541 --> 00:49:03,958
the honorable Elijah Muhammad
873
00:49:04,041 --> 00:49:05,916
as our leader,
teacher, and guide.
874
00:49:07,000 --> 00:49:09,375
PARKS: I found in the mosques
such order,
875
00:49:09,458 --> 00:49:12,416
uniformity
in just about everything.
876
00:49:12,500 --> 00:49:14,458
Malcolm would walk
with a long stick
877
00:49:14,541 --> 00:49:18,375
and point to a blackboard
and explain what Elijah Muhammad
878
00:49:18,458 --> 00:49:19,916
expected of Muslims.
879
00:49:23,500 --> 00:49:27,583
I was surprised to see them
training German Shepherd dogs.
880
00:49:27,666 --> 00:49:29,458
Malcolm would look at me
and smile.
881
00:49:29,541 --> 00:49:31,500
He says, "If they can face
that dog
882
00:49:31,583 --> 00:49:32,875
with its vicious fangs,
883
00:49:32,958 --> 00:49:34,625
they can face
a lot of other things."
884
00:49:36,791 --> 00:49:39,000
I went into some of
the Muslim families.
885
00:49:39,083 --> 00:49:41,375
I asked one father in Brooklyn,
886
00:49:41,458 --> 00:49:43,791
I said, "Suppose your son came
home one day
887
00:49:43,875 --> 00:49:47,083
and told you that he was
renouncing the Muslim religion."
888
00:49:47,166 --> 00:49:49,208
He said, "I would turn him
from my door
889
00:49:49,291 --> 00:49:51,666
and would
never allow him in again."
890
00:49:51,750 --> 00:49:54,000
It was amazing,
the faith that they had
891
00:49:54,083 --> 00:49:56,291
in Elijah Muhammad
and in Malcolm.
892
00:49:57,708 --> 00:49:59,750
RAZ-RUSSO: Gordon Parks
spends several months
893
00:49:59,833 --> 00:50:02,291
with members
of the Nation of Islam.
894
00:50:02,375 --> 00:50:04,250
It becomes a true collaboration
895
00:50:04,333 --> 00:50:08,250
where Gordon Parks is allowed
unprecedented access.
896
00:50:14,666 --> 00:50:17,541
I was in New York
when I got a call from Malcolm.
897
00:50:17,625 --> 00:50:21,375
He had just reached
the Los Angeles Airport.
898
00:50:22,458 --> 00:50:24,333
He said, "Can you get out here?"
899
00:50:24,416 --> 00:50:26,333
MALCOLM:
The person, whom you have come
900
00:50:26,416 --> 00:50:30,541
to know as Ronald Stokes,
we know him as brother Ronald.
901
00:50:30,625 --> 00:50:34,375
And an innocent man
when he was murdered.
902
00:50:34,458 --> 00:50:36,833
PARKS: That's when
Ronald Stokes was shot.
903
00:50:36,916 --> 00:50:38,583
Police had gone to the mosque,
904
00:50:38,666 --> 00:50:40,083
and there'd been
some confrontation
905
00:50:40,166 --> 00:50:42,583
with the young Muslims
out in front of the mosque.
906
00:50:42,666 --> 00:50:44,875
MALCOLM: These are the victims
of police bullets.
907
00:50:45,000 --> 00:50:48,208
And it is the police who should
be on trial here in Los Angeles.
908
00:50:48,291 --> 00:50:50,375
PARKS: Malcolm wanted to show
the rest of the world
909
00:50:50,458 --> 00:50:52,375
that these guys
were using brutality,
910
00:50:52,458 --> 00:50:54,416
especially against Muslims.
911
00:50:54,500 --> 00:50:57,750
MALCOLM: They can go in
and murder unarmed,
912
00:50:57,833 --> 00:50:59,208
innocent Negroes,
913
00:50:59,291 --> 00:51:03,000
and the White public is
gullible enough to back them up.
914
00:51:03,083 --> 00:51:04,500
PARKS: Malcolm was
terribly angry,
915
00:51:04,583 --> 00:51:07,416
as were a lot of Black people
who were not Muslims.
916
00:51:07,500 --> 00:51:09,541
I was angry myself,
terribly angry.
917
00:51:10,958 --> 00:51:12,708
It was very tense out there.
918
00:51:12,791 --> 00:51:15,041
Cops were patrolling
the streets.
919
00:51:15,125 --> 00:51:19,625
I knew if something happened,
I would be in the firing line.
920
00:51:19,708 --> 00:51:22,083
I never separated myself
from them
921
00:51:22,166 --> 00:51:24,041
in terms of being a reporter.
922
00:51:25,458 --> 00:51:29,000
I felt, frankly, like a Muslim.
923
00:51:36,708 --> 00:51:39,125
Malcolm and I
really felt like brothers.
924
00:51:39,208 --> 00:51:41,750
(CHUCKLES)
He was not the fiery monster
925
00:51:41,833 --> 00:51:44,083
that he was on
the street corner.
926
00:51:44,166 --> 00:51:47,333
He was a gentle, sweet guy.
927
00:51:47,416 --> 00:51:49,875
Coming between
Los Angeles and New York,
928
00:51:49,958 --> 00:51:51,458
we took a night plane.
929
00:51:51,541 --> 00:51:53,791
And he leaned over
on my shoulder and said to me,
930
00:51:53,875 --> 00:51:55,958
"Brother, you know I have a lot
of respect for you."
931
00:51:56,041 --> 00:51:57,166
Things of that sort.
932
00:51:57,250 --> 00:51:59,333
And I said, "Well, I have
a lot of respect for you."
933
00:51:59,416 --> 00:52:02,125
He dropped his head on
my shoulder and went to sleep.
934
00:52:06,208 --> 00:52:08,708
When we reached New York,
I said, "You called me 'brother'
935
00:52:08,791 --> 00:52:10,375
for the first time." He said,
936
00:52:10,458 --> 00:52:12,791
"Well, for the first time,
you deserved it."
937
00:52:12,875 --> 00:52:13,875
(LAUGHS)
938
00:52:13,958 --> 00:52:20,500
♪ (EMOTIONAL MUSIC PLAYS) ♪
939
00:52:24,125 --> 00:52:26,375
When the story came out in LIFE,
940
00:52:26,458 --> 00:52:30,500
the headline and the disposition
of the text to photographs
941
00:52:30,583 --> 00:52:33,208
turned it into something
very inflammatory.
942
00:52:34,416 --> 00:52:36,333
The text is quite critical.
943
00:52:36,416 --> 00:52:39,500
It presents this, you know,
what was the popular view
944
00:52:39,583 --> 00:52:41,541
of the Nation of Islam
at the time.
945
00:52:41,625 --> 00:52:45,291
As an outsider group,
as a somewhat violent group.
946
00:52:46,583 --> 00:52:48,541
What's fascinating is
that Gordon Parks
947
00:52:48,625 --> 00:52:51,833
actually contributes
his own separate text
948
00:52:51,916 --> 00:52:54,375
saying, "These are
systemic problems
949
00:52:54,458 --> 00:52:55,875
across the United States.
950
00:52:55,958 --> 00:52:59,125
These are problems
that are relevant
to everyone's life.
951
00:52:59,208 --> 00:53:03,083
These are problems
that you should see from
this point of view."
952
00:53:03,166 --> 00:53:05,375
And that's where he
becomes an activist.
953
00:53:13,666 --> 00:53:16,875
-ASSISTANT CAMERAMAN: B-mark.
-Backward action!
954
00:53:16,958 --> 00:53:18,958
LAURA HARRIER:
Are you down for
the liberation of Black people?
955
00:53:19,041 --> 00:53:21,000
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON:
Do we always
have to talk politics?
956
00:53:21,083 --> 00:53:22,583
What's more important?
957
00:53:22,666 --> 00:53:24,083
LEE: Cut! Check the gate.
958
00:53:24,166 --> 00:53:25,708
I love Gordon.
959
00:53:25,791 --> 00:53:28,166
We just have
great respect for each other.
960
00:53:28,250 --> 00:53:29,333
Action!
961
00:53:32,125 --> 00:53:35,583
He's one of the guys,
without them,
962
00:53:35,666 --> 00:53:38,916
I would not be
the filmmaker I am.
963
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:41,625
OSSIE DAVIS:
Harlem has come to bid farewell
964
00:53:41,708 --> 00:53:44,166
to one of its brightest hopes.
965
00:53:44,250 --> 00:53:48,000
LEE: At the end of Malcolm X,
we had my brother, Ossie Davis,
966
00:53:48,083 --> 00:53:50,916
re-record the eulogy
967
00:53:51,000 --> 00:53:54,041
which he gave
at Malcolm's Muslim funeral.
968
00:53:55,250 --> 00:53:57,333
And there's a montage.
969
00:53:57,416 --> 00:54:02,375
Many of the pictures were taken
by my brother, Gordon Parks.
970
00:54:02,458 --> 00:54:03,708
We were very happy that
971
00:54:03,791 --> 00:54:06,166
Gordon gave us the permission
to use those
972
00:54:06,250 --> 00:54:08,583
historic photographs
of Malcolm X.
973
00:54:10,833 --> 00:54:14,041
That camera in his hands
was a weapon.
974
00:54:15,458 --> 00:54:17,250
That was a
motherfuckin' bazooka!
975
00:54:17,333 --> 00:54:18,333
(LAUGHS)
976
00:54:18,416 --> 00:54:23,000
That wasn't no
six shooter or rifle.
977
00:54:23,083 --> 00:54:28,375
When Mr. Gordon Parks
had that camera in his hand,
978
00:54:28,458 --> 00:54:29,708
that was a bazooka.
979
00:54:34,083 --> 00:54:36,458
But you're not gonna get
the great photographs
980
00:54:36,541 --> 00:54:39,583
if you don't establish trust.
981
00:54:41,375 --> 00:54:43,916
Gordon come in, light up a room,
982
00:54:44,000 --> 00:54:46,791
gave everybody respect.
No matter if you were
983
00:54:46,875 --> 00:54:49,541
Gloria Vanderbilt
or some bum on the street.
984
00:54:49,625 --> 00:54:56,375
It's only when people feel safe
that they open themselves up.
985
00:54:56,458 --> 00:54:59,791
And then, the camera
will capture the essence.
986
00:55:03,166 --> 00:55:04,833
At least with
the films I'm doing,
987
00:55:04,916 --> 00:55:07,083
especially more
for documentaries I think,
988
00:55:07,166 --> 00:55:09,791
you gotta ask people
personal questions
989
00:55:09,875 --> 00:55:12,875
about very painful moments
in their life.
990
00:55:12,958 --> 00:55:16,166
For example, 4 Little Girls
was about the bombing
991
00:55:16,250 --> 00:55:18,625
of the 16th Street
Birmingham Baptist Church.
992
00:55:19,750 --> 00:55:22,416
And when you're talking
to someone
993
00:55:22,500 --> 00:55:24,500
whose kid was--
994
00:55:24,583 --> 00:55:26,666
dynamite blew their body apart.
995
00:55:28,416 --> 00:55:30,541
That's not easy.
996
00:55:30,625 --> 00:55:34,250
When did you find out that
Carole had been in the blast?
997
00:55:34,333 --> 00:55:37,666
When- when my husband
and my mother-in-law came back-
998
00:55:37,750 --> 00:55:39,125
came in to tell me.
999
00:55:42,166 --> 00:55:43,333
Oh, boy.
1000
00:55:45,958 --> 00:55:48,041
It was just-- It was awful.
1001
00:55:49,583 --> 00:55:51,458
It's the job of the artist
1002
00:55:51,541 --> 00:55:53,000
to have
your subject comfortable.
1003
00:55:54,875 --> 00:55:57,750
And Gordon had that gift.
1004
00:56:05,833 --> 00:56:09,208
Freedom, freedom.
1005
00:56:09,291 --> 00:56:12,166
KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR:
Gordon's photography
forms a foundation
1006
00:56:12,250 --> 00:56:14,833
for a visual narrative
of Black Americans
1007
00:56:15,666 --> 00:56:17,833
seen through Black eyes.
1008
00:56:20,375 --> 00:56:23,125
If you look at it and date it,
1009
00:56:23,208 --> 00:56:26,875
you see the evolution of
the Civil Rights Movement.
1010
00:56:26,958 --> 00:56:29,375
ANNOUNCER: I have the pleasure
to present to you
1011
00:56:29,458 --> 00:56:32,125
-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
-(CROWD CHEERS)
1012
00:56:32,208 --> 00:56:35,250
ABDUL-JABBAR: If you look
at his photographs, it's
a great chronological record
1013
00:56:35,333 --> 00:56:38,375
of what the 20th century
was about for Black Americans.
1014
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:43,666
Gordon made us visible to people
in a way that
1015
00:56:43,750 --> 00:56:45,833
no other photographer
could have done it.
1016
00:56:45,916 --> 00:56:48,958
He came from the community,
and that was always obvious.
1017
00:56:55,416 --> 00:56:58,750
WALKER:
The hold of White supremacy
1018
00:56:58,833 --> 00:57:03,083
on the Black psyche
was profound.
1019
00:57:03,166 --> 00:57:04,291
And it was when we started
1020
00:57:04,375 --> 00:57:08,083
to see the images
that lifted us up,
1021
00:57:08,166 --> 00:57:12,125
that made us feel
that we were worthy,
1022
00:57:12,208 --> 00:57:15,083
that we began
to really demand justice.
1023
00:57:23,041 --> 00:57:28,333
And so Gordon Parks
was a warrior for justice.
1024
00:57:28,416 --> 00:57:33,916
♪ (TRIUMPHANT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1025
00:57:35,583 --> 00:57:37,958
Cassius Clay is your name
no more, is that right?
1026
00:57:38,041 --> 00:57:39,708
Yes, sir, it's Muhammad Ali.
1027
00:57:39,791 --> 00:57:41,666
Muhammad means worthy
of all praises,
1028
00:57:41,750 --> 00:57:45,000
and Ali means most high in
the Asian-African language.
1029
00:57:45,083 --> 00:57:46,291
How long have you had the name?
1030
00:57:46,375 --> 00:57:49,375
Well, for about um-
two weeks now.
1031
00:57:49,458 --> 00:57:51,166
Is there anybody special
who gave you the name?
1032
00:57:51,250 --> 00:57:54,333
Yes, sir, my leader
and teacher, the most honorable
Elijah Muhammad.
1033
00:57:56,583 --> 00:57:59,125
BERGER: Muhammad Ali began
as a reluctant assignment.
1034
00:57:59,208 --> 00:58:02,541
I mean, Parks wasn't quite sure
who Muhammad Ali was,
1035
00:58:02,625 --> 00:58:05,083
his conversion to Islam.
1036
00:58:05,166 --> 00:58:06,833
The fact that he
sort of transformed from
1037
00:58:06,916 --> 00:58:10,333
Cassius Clay into a much more
radical political figure.
1038
00:58:10,416 --> 00:58:14,500
I just don't understand yet
how I can be reclassified as 1-A
1039
00:58:14,583 --> 00:58:16,250
without testing me in no way,
1040
00:58:16,333 --> 00:58:19,125
just calling me like this,
and I just don't understand it.
1041
00:58:19,208 --> 00:58:21,083
In other words,
you think they called you
1042
00:58:21,166 --> 00:58:23,166
only because you're
the heavyweight champion of--
1043
00:58:23,250 --> 00:58:24,250
And a Muslim too!
1044
00:58:24,333 --> 00:58:26,166
Ever since I've joined
the Muslim religion,
1045
00:58:26,250 --> 00:58:27,708
I've been catching hell
from here,
1046
00:58:27,791 --> 00:58:29,916
they've been trying to ail me,
and trick me into this...
1047
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:34,750
At the time that Muhammad Ali
was opposing the Vietnamese War,
1048
00:58:34,833 --> 00:58:37,708
he was very controversial.
1049
00:58:37,791 --> 00:58:40,000
He really surprised people
when he said that
1050
00:58:40,083 --> 00:58:43,250
he was taking a stand
for himself
and for all Americans
1051
00:58:43,333 --> 00:58:45,083
who did not support the war,
1052
00:58:45,166 --> 00:58:47,541
and that blew a lot
of people's minds.
1053
00:58:47,625 --> 00:58:50,291
"Ain't no Vietcong
ever called me nigger."
1054
00:58:50,708 --> 00:58:52,583
Wow.
1055
00:58:52,666 --> 00:58:55,833
That crystalized it
for all Black Americans.
1056
00:58:55,916 --> 00:58:57,625
REPORTER 1:
Are you gonna resume
your boxing career?
1057
00:58:57,708 --> 00:58:59,041
REPORTER 2:
Are you talking to us, champ?
1058
00:58:59,125 --> 00:59:01,333
No, I will not say nothing.
It is all in here.
1059
00:59:01,416 --> 00:59:03,041
PARKS:
When I met Muhammad Ali,
1060
00:59:03,125 --> 00:59:06,208
he was getting in trouble a lot
with the press.
1061
00:59:06,291 --> 00:59:08,500
I then took it upon myself
1062
00:59:08,583 --> 00:59:10,958
to say, "Hey don't let
the reporters rile you,
1063
00:59:11,041 --> 00:59:13,041
you know, be cooler about it."
1064
00:59:13,125 --> 00:59:15,666
(INDISTINCT CLAMOR)
1065
00:59:21,250 --> 00:59:24,500
When Parks began
to speak with Ali
1066
00:59:24,583 --> 00:59:25,958
and follow him around,
1067
00:59:26,041 --> 00:59:28,458
the two of them realized they
had a tremendous amount
in common.
1068
00:59:30,666 --> 00:59:32,916
MUHAMMAD:
In Gordon Parks's understanding
1069
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:37,041
of Muhammad Ali,
was the continuation
1070
00:59:37,125 --> 00:59:41,583
of being in the presence
of a genius
1071
00:59:41,666 --> 00:59:47,416
whose art was just his hands
and his attitude,
1072
00:59:47,500 --> 00:59:49,375
as compared to Langston Hughes,
1073
00:59:51,583 --> 00:59:52,875
or Richard Wright,
1074
00:59:54,291 --> 00:59:55,750
or Ralph Ellison.
1075
00:59:57,333 --> 01:00:00,000
That was
the Malcolm X story too.
1076
01:00:00,083 --> 01:00:03,666
Parks could see,
in these people,
1077
01:00:03,750 --> 01:00:05,375
a version of himself.
1078
01:00:06,500 --> 01:00:11,416
And was also trying to say,
"If you can see me,
1079
01:00:12,541 --> 01:00:15,125
then you should also be able
to see them as well."
1080
01:00:19,958 --> 01:00:24,000
I wish I was there to see,
like, how he really shot.
1081
01:00:31,416 --> 01:00:32,666
Even the action moments,
1082
01:00:32,750 --> 01:00:34,666
you could tell he slowed
the shutter down a little bit
1083
01:00:34,750 --> 01:00:36,166
to get that blur.
1084
01:00:37,625 --> 01:00:39,333
You could tell his hands
were so steady,
1085
01:00:39,416 --> 01:00:42,500
where he could just
focus on Ali's face,
and you can see that emotion,
1086
01:00:42,583 --> 01:00:44,333
but you can see
the speed of Ali.
1087
01:00:48,333 --> 01:00:50,458
Those things that I emulate
in my own photography
1088
01:00:50,541 --> 01:00:53,666
is about knowing when
to speed up that shutter speed
1089
01:00:53,750 --> 01:00:55,041
to get that locked-in focus.
1090
01:00:57,000 --> 01:00:58,875
When I was starting, I just
was always worrying about,
1091
01:00:58,958 --> 01:01:00,916
is the image clear?
Is the ISO perfect?
1092
01:01:01,000 --> 01:01:02,083
Is everything just perfect?
1093
01:01:02,166 --> 01:01:04,666
But sometimes, some of
the most imperfect pictures
1094
01:01:04,750 --> 01:01:05,875
is how you relay that emotion,
1095
01:01:05,958 --> 01:01:08,041
and that's what I think
he was so good at too.
1096
01:01:11,833 --> 01:01:15,250
This image is just, like, one
of my favorite pictures of Ali.
1097
01:01:15,333 --> 01:01:17,833
The look in his eyes,
you see, like that glare.
1098
01:01:17,916 --> 01:01:20,708
He's not even looking at Gordon.
He's, like, gazing off.
1099
01:01:20,791 --> 01:01:22,833
And it's just, like,
a beautiful portrait.
1100
01:01:30,041 --> 01:01:33,458
He really captured Ali
at every moment.
1101
01:01:34,458 --> 01:01:36,208
You saw the goofiness of him.
1102
01:01:37,375 --> 01:01:38,791
You saw the seriousness.
1103
01:01:40,541 --> 01:01:44,000
Many of us know Muhammad Ali as
this loudmouthed boxer,
1104
01:01:44,083 --> 01:01:47,750
but Gordon brought out
the humanitarian side of him.
1105
01:01:47,833 --> 01:01:51,083
ABDUL-JABBAR:
This to me talks about
the peace and serenity
1106
01:01:51,166 --> 01:01:53,791
that you get
from your spiritual discipline.
1107
01:01:55,458 --> 01:01:57,291
Muhammad Ali got a lot
from that.
1108
01:02:01,791 --> 01:02:05,250
Even though an image
is quick, it's quick,
1109
01:02:05,333 --> 01:02:08,041
but the time you put
in with that person,
1110
01:02:08,125 --> 01:02:09,750
you can tell in the image.
1111
01:02:09,833 --> 01:02:12,500
You can tell if a person
just came in and just snapped
and then kept moving.
1112
01:02:12,583 --> 01:02:14,125
But you-- if you can see
it in their eyes,
1113
01:02:14,208 --> 01:02:16,166
it was a real human connection
right there.
1114
01:02:17,458 --> 01:02:18,666
Muhammad Ali and Gordon,
1115
01:02:18,750 --> 01:02:21,666
that relationship
that was able to build,
1116
01:02:21,750 --> 01:02:23,458
you can tell that
it was genuine,
1117
01:02:23,541 --> 01:02:25,166
and it was real,
and it was authentic.
1118
01:02:31,791 --> 01:02:32,958
COACH CALVIN: Switch!
1119
01:02:33,500 --> 01:02:35,125
There you go.
1120
01:02:35,208 --> 01:02:38,375
You working all that.
Give it the same.
1121
01:02:38,458 --> 01:02:40,791
ALLEN: Right now, I've been
focusing on sports a lot.
1122
01:02:40,875 --> 01:02:42,500
With everything
that's going on in my city,
1123
01:02:42,583 --> 01:02:45,375
a lot of kids are dying
because they're in the streets.
1124
01:02:45,458 --> 01:02:46,666
CALVIN: Switch.
1125
01:02:46,750 --> 01:02:48,333
ALLEN: So what I want to do
is to change that narrative
1126
01:02:48,416 --> 01:02:50,875
around the youth
and give them something
to inspire them.
1127
01:02:50,958 --> 01:02:53,291
CALVIN:
Change up. Where's Rico at?
1128
01:02:54,916 --> 01:02:57,208
All y'all still gotta train.
1129
01:02:57,291 --> 01:02:59,625
ALLEN: We have
this amazing boxing coach
1130
01:02:59,708 --> 01:03:00,958
by the name of Calvin.
1131
01:03:01,041 --> 01:03:03,541
CALVIN: See how fast that was?
(GIGGLES)
1132
01:03:03,625 --> 01:03:06,333
ALLEN: I wanted to use
my photography to highlight him.
1133
01:03:07,166 --> 01:03:08,250
CALVIN: Box!
1134
01:03:08,958 --> 01:03:10,708
Good, no backing up.
1135
01:03:10,791 --> 01:03:12,625
Side to side. Good.
1136
01:03:14,458 --> 01:03:17,083
If Kenny tell him
to work the jab,
you work your jab.
1137
01:03:18,875 --> 01:03:20,083
There you go!
1138
01:03:20,166 --> 01:03:22,333
Whoever says work the jab,
you beat him to the punch.
1139
01:03:22,416 --> 01:03:24,375
ALLEN: Capturing someone
getting punched in the face
is pretty easy...
1140
01:03:24,458 --> 01:03:26,166
(CHUCKLES) ...but it's those
1141
01:03:26,250 --> 01:03:27,875
intimate moments,
those down moments,
1142
01:03:27,958 --> 01:03:31,750
that I really, I love, like,
just seeing people be human.
1143
01:03:34,833 --> 01:03:38,416
When a coach is giving
a pep talk or he hugs a kid.
1144
01:03:40,291 --> 01:03:42,000
I like seeing people
be vulnerable.
1145
01:03:44,583 --> 01:03:47,666
I've been documenting
Coach Calvin for a while now.
1146
01:03:47,750 --> 01:03:49,875
He's saving lives
in West Baltimore.
1147
01:03:50,916 --> 01:03:52,333
So what I've been doing is like,
1148
01:03:52,416 --> 01:03:54,916
taking a page
out of Gordon Parks's book.
1149
01:03:55,000 --> 01:03:58,458
I've been embedding myself
at the gym with these kids,
1150
01:03:58,541 --> 01:04:01,500
and kids love images
of themselves.
1151
01:04:01,583 --> 01:04:03,958
And that's when I really started
realizing how important
1152
01:04:04,041 --> 01:04:06,291
my imagery was to my city.
1153
01:04:06,375 --> 01:04:09,333
CALVIN: When your hands up,
the hands up, go to the body!
1154
01:04:09,416 --> 01:04:11,833
He ain't listening.
Oh, he listening. Okay!
1155
01:04:13,166 --> 01:04:14,416
Oh, good right hand!
1156
01:04:15,500 --> 01:04:18,000
Stop wrestling. Punch. Box!
1157
01:04:25,458 --> 01:04:27,708
"Gordon Parks's
personal history includes
1158
01:04:27,791 --> 01:04:30,666
a Kansas Farm,
a Minneapolis brothel,
1159
01:04:30,750 --> 01:04:33,750
a flophouse in Chicago,
a St. Paul jail.
1160
01:04:33,833 --> 01:04:36,833
The story of one American
who overcame loneliness,
1161
01:04:36,916 --> 01:04:38,875
the Depression, poverty,
1162
01:04:39,000 --> 01:04:41,458
and his color to find security
1163
01:04:41,541 --> 01:04:43,541
and the beginnings
of a success."
1164
01:04:43,625 --> 01:04:47,125
His book is titled
A Choice of Weapons.
1165
01:04:47,208 --> 01:04:48,458
Here is Gordon Parks.
1166
01:04:48,541 --> 01:04:49,916
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDS)
1167
01:04:50,000 --> 01:04:53,125
RAZ-RUSSO: By this point,
he's a larger-than-life figure.
1168
01:04:53,208 --> 01:04:55,125
You know, he's an
incredibly well known,
1169
01:04:55,208 --> 01:04:57,250
well respected, powerful figure.
1170
01:04:57,333 --> 01:05:01,708
Your pictures of
the story of the little boy...
1171
01:05:01,791 --> 01:05:02,958
-Flavio?
-Flavio.
1172
01:05:03,041 --> 01:05:04,375
Flavio, they pronounce it.
1173
01:05:04,458 --> 01:05:07,333
...in Rio de Janeiro
will long be remembered.
1174
01:05:12,916 --> 01:05:15,958
PAUL ROTH: Gordon was asked
to make an effective photo essay
1175
01:05:16,041 --> 01:05:18,250
that would
help Americans understand
1176
01:05:18,333 --> 01:05:21,458
the scale of
the problem of poverty
in Latin America.
1177
01:05:21,541 --> 01:05:23,125
MERV GRIFFIN: And here's Flavio?
1178
01:05:24,000 --> 01:05:25,333
Yes, that's Flav.
1179
01:05:25,416 --> 01:05:27,208
GRIFFIN: Oh, you got so,
you called him "Flav."
1180
01:05:27,291 --> 01:05:30,208
PARKS: Yes, I called him Flav.
He called me Gordo.
1181
01:05:30,291 --> 01:05:34,083
ANDERSON COOPER:
I remember as a kid looking at
pictures of Flavio in Brazil,
1182
01:05:34,166 --> 01:05:38,083
and it absolutely sparked
an interest in going places
1183
01:05:38,166 --> 01:05:41,041
and telling stories, and seeing
things with your own eye
1184
01:05:41,125 --> 01:05:43,041
and through your own lens.
1185
01:05:43,125 --> 01:05:46,333
I wouldn't be a reporter today
if it wasn't for Gordon Parks.
1186
01:05:47,333 --> 01:05:49,291
BERGER:
Those photographs would not just
1187
01:05:49,375 --> 01:05:50,958
inspire a response,
1188
01:05:51,041 --> 01:05:53,000
they saved Flavio's life.
1189
01:05:53,916 --> 01:05:55,375
ROTH:
Gordon actually took Flavio
1190
01:05:55,458 --> 01:05:57,958
to a doctor for the first time,
and that doctor said
1191
01:05:58,041 --> 01:06:00,041
that he had
very little time left to live,
1192
01:06:00,125 --> 01:06:03,250
no more than two years and
probably much less than that.
1193
01:06:03,333 --> 01:06:04,958
GRIFFIN: Have you heard
from him since?
1194
01:06:05,041 --> 01:06:07,458
Well, yes,
I brought him to America, uh.
1195
01:06:07,541 --> 01:06:10,250
People, many of you possibly
out there,
1196
01:06:10,333 --> 01:06:13,333
sent in money,
over 100,000 dollars,
1197
01:06:13,416 --> 01:06:15,541
and demanded
that I go back and get Flavio
1198
01:06:15,625 --> 01:06:18,458
and bring him
to the United States
to be cured, which I did.
1199
01:06:18,541 --> 01:06:20,041
I brought him
to the Denver Clinic.
1200
01:06:20,125 --> 01:06:21,791
LESLIE PARKS-BAILEY:
All of these donations
started coming in,
1201
01:06:21,875 --> 01:06:25,333
and he took it upon himself
to get this child help
1202
01:06:25,416 --> 01:06:26,958
for his asthma.
1203
01:06:27,041 --> 01:06:30,375
They built a new house for them,
and, you know, it's just...
1204
01:06:31,125 --> 01:06:32,500
Who does that?
1205
01:06:32,583 --> 01:06:36,333
♪ (UPLIFTING MUSIC FADES) ♪
1206
01:06:39,791 --> 01:06:43,166
Will you welcome please,
Mr. Gordon Parks.
1207
01:06:43,250 --> 01:06:46,083
COBB: I think there's
an interesting trade off
1208
01:06:46,166 --> 01:06:50,083
that Gordon makes
as he becomes more prominent.
1209
01:06:50,166 --> 01:06:53,916
What, looking back,
was the very first
1210
01:06:54,000 --> 01:06:56,291
photographic story
you ever covered?
1211
01:06:56,375 --> 01:06:59,083
Well, the very first
photographic story
I covered for LIFE
1212
01:06:59,166 --> 01:07:03,416
was, I think the 1948,
was the Harlem gang story.
1213
01:07:03,500 --> 01:07:08,958
COBB:
He had previously been able
to observe uninterrupted,
1214
01:07:09,041 --> 01:07:10,500
you know, with his camera
1215
01:07:10,583 --> 01:07:13,083
and, you know,
capture the unguarded moment.
1216
01:07:15,041 --> 01:07:18,125
To be this Negro man
with a camera,
1217
01:07:18,208 --> 01:07:21,208
you know, who's going around
taking images.
1218
01:07:21,291 --> 01:07:24,208
You can't quite do that,
you know, when everyone
knows you,
1219
01:07:24,291 --> 01:07:26,791
where you're showing up
on television.
1220
01:07:26,875 --> 01:07:29,125
We're talking
to Gordon Parks about
The Learning Tree,
1221
01:07:29,208 --> 01:07:31,250
his brilliant new novel. Poetic.
1222
01:07:32,333 --> 01:07:34,708
He has a song about it.
1223
01:07:34,791 --> 01:07:37,000
Gordon, I couldn't put it down
from the very first page,
1224
01:07:37,083 --> 01:07:39,083
and of course, the obvious
question comes first,
1225
01:07:39,166 --> 01:07:40,666
is it autobiographical?
1226
01:07:41,375 --> 01:07:43,625
Well, that's often asked, uh,
1227
01:07:43,708 --> 01:07:47,333
I have a--
I must say that it's fictional.
1228
01:07:47,416 --> 01:07:50,791
LIFE magazine calls it
"Fictional Autobiographical."
1229
01:07:50,875 --> 01:07:53,625
(CHUCKLES) It's a tricky one.
But I will admit
1230
01:07:53,708 --> 01:07:55,583
that I know most of
the characters in it.
1231
01:07:55,666 --> 01:07:58,541
COBB: At this point,
Gordon's personal bearing
1232
01:07:58,625 --> 01:08:01,708
begins to become much more
distinct and distinguished.
1233
01:08:03,208 --> 01:08:07,750
If celebrity was a language,
Gordon spoke it fluently.
1234
01:08:07,833 --> 01:08:09,458
Have you got anything else
in preparation?
1235
01:08:09,541 --> 01:08:11,916
Yes, I have
an autobiographical book
1236
01:08:12,000 --> 01:08:14,166
coming up for Harper's,
and a novel,
1237
01:08:14,250 --> 01:08:16,125
and there's great talk now
1238
01:08:16,208 --> 01:08:17,666
of a movie
for The Learning Tree,
1239
01:08:17,750 --> 01:08:20,875
and I will be asked
to direct that.
(CHUCKLES)
1240
01:08:20,958 --> 01:08:23,000
I hope certainly,
because you know it
so much better,
1241
01:08:23,083 --> 01:08:25,166
and I hope also
that they're going
to let you shoot it
1242
01:08:25,250 --> 01:08:26,541
just about in the same location.
1243
01:08:26,625 --> 01:08:29,750
We hope to go right back
to Kansas and shoot this there.
1244
01:08:35,833 --> 01:08:38,541
BERGER:
I think he gravitated to film
1245
01:08:38,625 --> 01:08:42,041
because he understood
the immense audience.
1246
01:08:42,791 --> 01:08:44,750
Gordon was so interested
1247
01:08:44,833 --> 01:08:47,875
in reaching
as many people as possible.
1248
01:08:47,958 --> 01:08:52,166
The Learning Tree
was the first major studio film
1249
01:08:52,250 --> 01:08:54,791
directed by
an African American director.
1250
01:08:54,875 --> 01:08:57,708
So he broke tremendous ground
with the film.
1251
01:08:57,791 --> 01:08:59,166
All of these things are clues.
1252
01:08:59,250 --> 01:09:01,416
Each one should know exactly
what they're coming to do,
1253
01:09:01,500 --> 01:09:02,625
and what they're gonna do.
1254
01:09:02,708 --> 01:09:05,541
DUVERNAY: He demanded
that Black crew members
1255
01:09:05,625 --> 01:09:06,833
be around him.
1256
01:09:07,625 --> 01:09:09,583
He really lifted as he climbed.
1257
01:09:09,666 --> 01:09:12,125
With The Learning Tree,
they took
1258
01:09:12,208 --> 01:09:15,833
a thoroughly integrated
crew and cast.
1259
01:09:15,916 --> 01:09:18,416
They could work together.
They could live together.
1260
01:09:18,500 --> 01:09:21,958
They created a feeling
of goodwill, you might say.
1261
01:09:22,041 --> 01:09:23,583
PARKS: All right,
let's shoot it now.
1262
01:09:24,708 --> 01:09:25,833
Action!
1263
01:09:25,916 --> 01:09:28,000
DUVERNAY: He was not only able
to direct the film,
1264
01:09:28,083 --> 01:09:31,375
but to, you know,
play direct parts in a lot of
1265
01:09:31,458 --> 01:09:33,916
the other art practice
and disciplines
1266
01:09:34,000 --> 01:09:35,375
that went into
making the film.
1267
01:09:35,458 --> 01:09:38,416
PARKS: I wrote the screenplay,
I directed it,
1268
01:09:38,500 --> 01:09:40,333
I wrote the music,
1269
01:09:40,416 --> 01:09:42,791
and I produced it
for Warner Brothers.
1270
01:09:42,875 --> 01:09:45,166
COBB: Parks is kind
of like the guy in the band
1271
01:09:45,250 --> 01:09:46,916
who's gonna play
all the instruments.
1272
01:09:47,000 --> 01:09:51,375
That would still be
a pretty uncommon thing
1273
01:09:51,458 --> 01:09:53,791
to see one person do
all those things.
1274
01:09:53,875 --> 01:09:57,208
But I also think it falls into
the same sort of paradox
1275
01:09:57,791 --> 01:09:59,666
of his career,
1276
01:09:59,750 --> 01:10:02,541
which is that in order to be
the first Black person
to do something,
1277
01:10:02,625 --> 01:10:04,875
you have to be
this exceptional talent.
1278
01:10:04,958 --> 01:10:08,000
NARRATOR: The 15th
and youngest child
of a Kansas farmer,
1279
01:10:08,083 --> 01:10:10,291
he told of how
it was growing up
1280
01:10:10,375 --> 01:10:12,875
in his bestselling novel,
The Learning Tree.
1281
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:16,125
And now Gordon Parks
has returned to the town
1282
01:10:16,208 --> 01:10:18,708
where he lived it.
And there, made that story
1283
01:10:18,791 --> 01:10:20,083
into a motion picture.
1284
01:10:20,166 --> 01:10:21,125
(GUNSHOT)
1285
01:10:21,208 --> 01:10:22,125
♪ My baby's gone ♪
1286
01:10:22,208 --> 01:10:24,166
DUVERNAY:
It is an essential film,
1287
01:10:24,250 --> 01:10:26,458
certainly in understanding
the Black cinematic canon,
1288
01:10:26,541 --> 01:10:28,750
but it should be a part
of the conversation
1289
01:10:28,833 --> 01:10:31,291
as we talk about
the American cinematic canon.
1290
01:10:32,500 --> 01:10:34,833
And to make something
as lyrical and intimate
1291
01:10:34,916 --> 01:10:36,416
as The Learning Tree,
1292
01:10:36,500 --> 01:10:38,250
and then create
a cultural phenomenon
1293
01:10:38,333 --> 01:10:40,083
like Shaft is remarkable!
1294
01:10:40,166 --> 01:10:42,041
-PARKS: Now the sequence we saw
this morning...
-Right.
1295
01:10:42,125 --> 01:10:44,750
Times Square,
panned on off the skyscrapers
1296
01:10:44,833 --> 01:10:46,958
along 42nd Street
where the marquis is,
1297
01:10:47,041 --> 01:10:49,250
and when Shaft pops up out
of that subway,
1298
01:10:49,333 --> 01:10:51,458
-that's when
it should really come on.
-Right.
1299
01:10:51,541 --> 01:10:54,375
And there should be
a driving savage beat,
1300
01:10:54,458 --> 01:10:57,166
you know,
so that we'll be right
with him all the time.
1301
01:10:57,250 --> 01:10:59,958
-Mm-hmm.
-What I heard you
working on earlier
1302
01:11:00,041 --> 01:11:01,833
seems great
for that Shaft walk.
1303
01:11:01,916 --> 01:11:03,666
-Can we hear it now?
-HAYES: Yeah, okay.
1304
01:11:03,750 --> 01:11:05,791
Now watch the rhythm, man.
Just let it flow, you know?
1305
01:11:05,875 --> 01:11:09,666
One, two, three, four.
1306
01:11:09,750 --> 01:11:13,833
♪ ("THEME FROM SHAFT"
BY ISAAC HAYES PLAYING) ♪
1307
01:11:22,166 --> 01:11:24,583
COBB: How many detectives
have we seen?
1308
01:11:24,666 --> 01:11:27,791
From The Maltese Falcon,
you know, all the way up.
1309
01:11:27,875 --> 01:11:30,000
We have never seen it like this.
1310
01:11:30,083 --> 01:11:32,041
-Up yours!
-CAB DRIVER: Get out of the way.
1311
01:11:32,125 --> 01:11:35,625
COBB: Richard Roundtree was like
this swaggering figure.
1312
01:11:35,708 --> 01:11:38,291
As they called him back then,
the "Black James Bond."
1313
01:11:40,250 --> 01:11:41,583
I thought we were gonna get to.
1314
01:11:41,666 --> 01:11:43,333
We did, but you wanted me
to fidget.
1315
01:11:43,416 --> 01:11:45,583
I just said, "Up yours, baby."
1316
01:11:45,666 --> 01:11:48,250
The whole point of Shaft
is he wasn't part of the system,
1317
01:11:48,333 --> 01:11:50,083
that he had agency
outside of that.
1318
01:11:50,166 --> 01:11:53,208
Don't get wise with me, Shaft.
I'll put your goddamn ass in.
1319
01:11:53,291 --> 01:11:55,375
I'll sue your goddamn ass
for false arrest.
1320
01:11:55,458 --> 01:11:58,166
When Shaft interacts with
the police, he talks to them
1321
01:11:58,250 --> 01:12:01,166
the way that all Black people
wanted to talk to the police.
1322
01:12:01,250 --> 01:12:03,000
-Cool it, man.
-You cool it, boy.
1323
01:12:03,083 --> 01:12:05,500
GEORGE: He talked the way
he wanted to talk
to whoever he wanted to,
1324
01:12:05,583 --> 01:12:06,958
and that included
the Black radicals,
1325
01:12:07,041 --> 01:12:08,541
that included
the Harlem gangsters.
1326
01:12:09,666 --> 01:12:11,458
And the idea of Black power
1327
01:12:11,541 --> 01:12:13,833
became very, very popular
with younger people.
1328
01:12:13,916 --> 01:12:15,625
You were seeing that
in the streets.
1329
01:12:15,708 --> 01:12:18,083
You were seeing that
in the pop culture.
1330
01:12:18,166 --> 01:12:21,916
And it comes through his work
as a photographer.
1331
01:12:22,000 --> 01:12:24,750
DUVERNAY: When you think about
what was going on in the country
at that time,
1332
01:12:24,833 --> 01:12:30,000
you know, really the country was
at war in many ways with itself.
1333
01:12:30,083 --> 01:12:33,208
GEORGE: Shaft was the movie
that kind of mainstreamed
1334
01:12:33,291 --> 01:12:34,708
a lot of that rebellion
1335
01:12:34,791 --> 01:12:36,875
through this sort
of detective character.
1336
01:12:36,958 --> 01:12:38,000
Listen, Snow White,
1337
01:12:38,083 --> 01:12:39,791
me and you gonna tangle
sooner or later.
1338
01:12:39,875 --> 01:12:41,916
We ain't gonna do shit.
1339
01:12:42,000 --> 01:12:46,125
LEE: John Shaft represented
Black manhood.
1340
01:12:46,208 --> 01:12:49,000
We're kicking ass,
and we got the ladies too.
1341
01:12:49,083 --> 01:12:50,708
(LAUGHS)
1342
01:12:50,791 --> 01:12:53,375
We got it covered on all sides!
1343
01:12:53,458 --> 01:12:56,916
(LAUGHING)
1344
01:12:57,000 --> 01:12:58,625
I didn't see Shaft
until much later.
1345
01:12:58,708 --> 01:13:00,416
My mother didn't
want me watching that.
1346
01:13:00,500 --> 01:13:03,166
She thought it was
a little too risqué
for her baby.
1347
01:13:04,291 --> 01:13:06,500
GEORGE: He had White
and Black women.
1348
01:13:06,583 --> 01:13:09,000
Shaft is in a shower
having sex with a White chick
1349
01:13:09,083 --> 01:13:10,166
he met at a bar.
1350
01:13:10,625 --> 01:13:11,916
That was, whoa.
1351
01:13:15,041 --> 01:13:16,958
LEE: I saw it on 42nd Street.
1352
01:13:17,041 --> 01:13:18,166
SHAFT: (WHISPERING) No noise.
1353
01:13:18,250 --> 01:13:21,583
That motherfuckin' theater
was jam packed.
1354
01:13:21,666 --> 01:13:24,833
And Black folks
were going berserk.
1355
01:13:24,916 --> 01:13:28,416
It's like, we ain't never
seen no shit like this before.
1356
01:13:28,750 --> 01:13:29,791
Open it!
1357
01:13:29,875 --> 01:13:31,750
-(DOOR OPENS)
-(WOMAN GASPS)
1358
01:13:31,833 --> 01:13:35,041
We loved it!
Because on the screen
1359
01:13:35,125 --> 01:13:38,000
we're looking at
a Black superhero.
1360
01:13:38,083 --> 01:13:39,583
-(GUN FIRING)
-(SCREAMS)
1361
01:13:39,666 --> 01:13:40,916
(GUNFIRE)
1362
01:13:41,000 --> 01:13:43,500
Shaft is a guy, he has
an office in Times Square.
1363
01:13:43,583 --> 01:13:45,416
He has a place in the Village,
1364
01:13:45,500 --> 01:13:48,625
but he's able to move in Harlem
and other spaces as well.
1365
01:13:48,708 --> 01:13:50,250
Hey, man. What's goin' on?
1366
01:13:50,333 --> 01:13:52,375
GEORGE: He has a relationship
with the police
and the authorities,
1367
01:13:52,458 --> 01:13:55,166
but he also has a relationship
with the radical element.
1368
01:13:55,916 --> 01:13:57,416
That's Gordon!
1369
01:13:57,500 --> 01:14:00,458
And be sure, after you hit him
over the head with the bottle,
1370
01:14:00,541 --> 01:14:02,875
and you see
the blood gush out of his face,
1371
01:14:02,958 --> 01:14:06,291
that you maintain the cool
that Shaft should maintain.
1372
01:14:06,375 --> 01:14:11,041
Gordon introduced me
to Morty Sills, his tailor.
1373
01:14:11,125 --> 01:14:16,666
He says, um, "He will put it
all together for you."
1374
01:14:18,875 --> 01:14:22,041
He never told me this,
and it was only years after
1375
01:14:22,125 --> 01:14:24,916
that I looked back on it
in retrospect,
1376
01:14:25,000 --> 01:14:27,166
it was Gordon Parks.
1377
01:14:27,250 --> 01:14:30,083
PARKS: Gentlemen, do your scene
as you did it in the master.
1378
01:14:30,166 --> 01:14:32,041
No mistakes,
because this is the type
1379
01:14:32,125 --> 01:14:33,958
we don't like to retake.
1380
01:14:34,041 --> 01:14:35,458
GENEVIEVE YOUNG:
The swaggering guy
1381
01:14:35,541 --> 01:14:39,166
with that black leather jacket,
which became an icon.
1382
01:14:39,250 --> 01:14:42,416
This was Gordon's
other personality.
1383
01:14:44,125 --> 01:14:45,333
That was beautiful, sweetheart.
1384
01:14:47,208 --> 01:14:49,375
BERGER:
The movie was a critical success
1385
01:14:49,458 --> 01:14:50,791
and a box office success.
1386
01:14:51,875 --> 01:14:53,833
It won an Oscar
for Isaac Hayes's
1387
01:14:53,916 --> 01:14:56,166
extraordinary
song for the opening credits.
1388
01:14:59,041 --> 01:15:01,125
It literally set into motion
the idea that
1389
01:15:01,208 --> 01:15:04,083
if you make Black films,
people will come and see them.
1390
01:15:06,958 --> 01:15:08,666
NARRATOR: Shaft is back!
1391
01:15:10,166 --> 01:15:11,333
Drop the guns and freeze!
1392
01:15:11,416 --> 01:15:15,166
NARRATOR: He's super hood,
super high, super dude,
1393
01:15:15,833 --> 01:15:16,958
super fly.
1394
01:15:17,041 --> 01:15:18,708
COBB: The arrival
of Blaxploitation
1395
01:15:18,791 --> 01:15:21,500
really shored up
Hollywood's fortunes.
1396
01:15:21,583 --> 01:15:23,416
Those films were
inexpensive to make
1397
01:15:23,500 --> 01:15:26,416
and guaranteed
really significant box offices.
1398
01:15:26,500 --> 01:15:29,375
-Don't crowd me, boy.
-You better put that down
before I make you eat it.
1399
01:15:31,208 --> 01:15:32,708
COBB: But after being
kind of a source
1400
01:15:32,791 --> 01:15:36,000
of a great deal of revenue,
there wasn't anything
beyond that.
1401
01:15:37,000 --> 01:15:40,000
Very few times would
the story deviate
1402
01:15:40,083 --> 01:15:42,875
from the same old,
same old thing.
1403
01:15:42,958 --> 01:15:46,708
And eventually,
the Black audience got tired
1404
01:15:46,791 --> 01:15:48,708
and the genre died out because
1405
01:15:48,791 --> 01:15:51,291
they went to the well
way too often.
1406
01:15:51,375 --> 01:15:54,750
(EXPLOSIONS)
1407
01:15:54,833 --> 01:15:58,291
That whole wave of Black film,
that Gordon helped create,
1408
01:15:58,375 --> 01:16:01,125
crested, and Hollywood moved on.
1409
01:16:01,208 --> 01:16:02,958
♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1410
01:16:03,041 --> 01:16:05,250
COBB: When Blaxploitation began
to fade out,
1411
01:16:05,333 --> 01:16:08,791
there was no avenue to say,
"Okay, we want Gordon Parks
1412
01:16:08,875 --> 01:16:12,000
to direct
this World War II epic."
1413
01:16:12,083 --> 01:16:15,333
Or like any of the kind
of natural progressions
1414
01:16:15,416 --> 01:16:17,416
that you would've seen,
especially kind of the heyday
1415
01:16:17,500 --> 01:16:20,291
of the 1970s American director.
1416
01:16:20,375 --> 01:16:22,416
You don't see him
get entrée into that.
1417
01:16:25,416 --> 01:16:27,250
PARKS: I've never been offered
some of the films
1418
01:16:27,333 --> 01:16:29,583
that would have been offered
to me had I been White.
1419
01:16:29,666 --> 01:16:31,500
Let's put it
very simply like that.
1420
01:16:36,083 --> 01:16:38,458
YOUNG: He really wanted
to keep on being a director,
1421
01:16:38,541 --> 01:16:41,541
but nobody asked him anymore.
That grieved him a lot.
1422
01:16:43,958 --> 01:16:47,958
He had not achieved what
he wanted to in the movie world.
1423
01:16:50,583 --> 01:16:53,458
LEE: No matter who you are,
as an artist,
1424
01:16:53,541 --> 01:16:57,458
and you're not able
to expand and grow,
1425
01:16:57,541 --> 01:16:59,041
it's gonna hurt your soul.
1426
01:16:59,125 --> 01:17:01,000
Because your soul is what...
1427
01:17:02,208 --> 01:17:03,416
is what your art is.
1428
01:17:06,875 --> 01:17:09,250
ROTH:
He was not a comfortable fit.
1429
01:17:09,333 --> 01:17:11,791
While he had been able
to walk a tightrope
1430
01:17:11,875 --> 01:17:12,958
at LIFE magazine,
1431
01:17:13,041 --> 01:17:15,500
he couldn't quite
walk the tightrope in Hollywood.
1432
01:17:17,500 --> 01:17:20,250
So it was
a brief meteoric career,
1433
01:17:20,333 --> 01:17:21,666
and then it was all over.
1434
01:17:24,416 --> 01:17:27,208
DUVERNAY: Of course, Hollywood
has changed from the late '60s,
1435
01:17:27,291 --> 01:17:29,208
when he started making films,
1436
01:17:29,291 --> 01:17:32,166
but it's changed
because he changed it, you know.
1437
01:17:32,250 --> 01:17:35,083
It's changed because, you know,
he opened the door.
1438
01:17:35,166 --> 01:17:38,833
♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪
1439
01:17:41,583 --> 01:17:44,750
All the years
that I knew Gordon,
1440
01:17:44,833 --> 01:17:46,958
over 20 years
that I worked with him...
1441
01:17:48,500 --> 01:17:51,375
the next project
is what was important.
1442
01:17:51,458 --> 01:17:54,250
How was this going
to affect the future?
1443
01:17:54,333 --> 01:17:55,708
And that's where
he wanted to go.
1444
01:17:55,791 --> 01:17:57,666
He was always moving forward.
1445
01:17:57,750 --> 01:18:01,166
PARKS: I want to compose more.
I want to compose differently.
1446
01:18:01,250 --> 01:18:03,791
I want to write more.
I want to write differently.
1447
01:18:03,875 --> 01:18:07,041
This all takes time,
and I know I don't have
1448
01:18:07,125 --> 01:18:08,333
that much time.
1449
01:18:09,541 --> 01:18:11,250
LESLIE: He would stay up
until, you know,
1450
01:18:11,333 --> 01:18:12,750
six o'clock
in the morning, typing.
1451
01:18:12,833 --> 01:18:14,291
I remember when
I would stay with him,
1452
01:18:14,375 --> 01:18:16,458
just hearing
the typewriter going,
1453
01:18:16,541 --> 01:18:19,625
like, he just
never stopped working.
1454
01:18:19,708 --> 01:18:21,875
Being creative
was just something
1455
01:18:21,958 --> 01:18:23,291
he couldn't help doing.
1456
01:18:24,875 --> 01:18:27,791
YOUNG: He just had
this drive to work all the time.
1457
01:18:27,875 --> 01:18:30,291
Expression of his talent
was his religion.
1458
01:18:32,791 --> 01:18:37,250
PARKS: At 85, I really feel
that I'm just ready to start.
1459
01:18:40,750 --> 01:18:43,708
SHABAZZ:
I met him at the Leica Gallery
in the '90s.
1460
01:18:43,791 --> 01:18:46,833
I had just had
a really difficult day at jail
1461
01:18:46,916 --> 01:18:49,375
where a young man
tried to kill himself.
1462
01:18:49,458 --> 01:18:51,416
You know,
like maybe two hours earlier,
1463
01:18:51,500 --> 01:18:53,250
and now I'm at an opening.
1464
01:18:53,333 --> 01:18:57,291
I was downstairs about to leave,
and Gordon had come down.
1465
01:18:58,666 --> 01:19:00,916
And I asked him, you know,
with all due respect, sir,
1466
01:19:01,000 --> 01:19:03,250
may I take a photograph of you?
1467
01:19:03,333 --> 01:19:06,583
And he had
a really bad toothache,
and he couldn't speak.
1468
01:19:06,666 --> 01:19:08,750
He looked me in my eyes,
and he raised his right hand,
1469
01:19:08,833 --> 01:19:12,333
and he shook his fist
about three times
as he looked at me.
1470
01:19:12,416 --> 01:19:15,458
He must have saw
the pain inside me
at that point.
1471
01:19:15,541 --> 01:19:17,625
Through his body language,
he let me know that
1472
01:19:17,708 --> 01:19:19,291
you are in a sense,
1473
01:19:19,375 --> 01:19:21,458
carry on that torch, like,
hang in there.
1474
01:19:25,750 --> 01:19:28,791
GEORGE:
I had friends who knew him,
so I was able to be around him.
1475
01:19:29,916 --> 01:19:32,166
He wasn't just a guy
who photojournalists knew
1476
01:19:32,250 --> 01:19:35,125
or other people
in the photo art world knew.
1477
01:19:35,208 --> 01:19:39,166
Gordon was able to leap out
of the world of photography
1478
01:19:39,250 --> 01:19:41,083
into the world
of popular culture.
1479
01:19:45,875 --> 01:19:48,583
In the summer of 1998,
1480
01:19:48,666 --> 01:19:52,250
XXL magazine, which was then
a fledgling hip-hop magazine,
1481
01:19:52,333 --> 01:19:54,500
decided to do
a photograph reenacting
1482
01:19:54,583 --> 01:19:57,833
the Great Day in Harlem photo
that he had taken in '58.
1483
01:19:57,916 --> 01:20:00,375
♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1484
01:20:00,458 --> 01:20:03,166
GEORGE: But the big deal was,
who was going to shoot it?
1485
01:20:03,250 --> 01:20:05,750
And they were desperately trying
to get Gordon,
1486
01:20:05,833 --> 01:20:07,250
and he finally agreed to do it.
1487
01:20:13,125 --> 01:20:17,166
And him doing that photo made
the photo really important.
1488
01:20:17,250 --> 01:20:19,083
Legendary, legendary.
1489
01:20:19,166 --> 01:20:20,541
GEORGE: Connecting
the generations
1490
01:20:20,625 --> 01:20:22,541
between the hip-hop world
and the jazz world.
1491
01:20:22,625 --> 01:20:25,125
RAKIM: I watched footage on
the Great Day in Harlem
1492
01:20:25,208 --> 01:20:27,000
and what that meant
to them, man.
1493
01:20:27,083 --> 01:20:29,166
And how Thelonious Monk
came down.
1494
01:20:29,250 --> 01:20:31,875
And then, I mean, yo,
it means something to me.
1495
01:20:35,208 --> 01:20:36,958
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
1496
01:20:37,041 --> 01:20:38,625
I came out to do my part,
1497
01:20:38,708 --> 01:20:40,625
to represent my culture,
you know what I mean.
1498
01:20:40,708 --> 01:20:42,958
GEORGE: A wide range of artists
all say part of the reason
1499
01:20:43,041 --> 01:20:44,750
for being there
was Gordon Parks.
1500
01:20:44,833 --> 01:20:47,375
When they called, I said,
"Yo, who's doing it man?"
I had to be here man.
1501
01:20:47,458 --> 01:20:50,375
GEORGE: Hip-hop was not
the number one pop culture
in '98.
1502
01:20:50,458 --> 01:20:53,291
So for Gordon to be there,
for them was a validation.
1503
01:20:53,375 --> 01:20:55,083
-There's times
when he walks up...
-(APPLAUSE)
1504
01:20:55,166 --> 01:20:57,250
...to try and move people around
during the photoshoot,
1505
01:20:57,333 --> 01:21:00,500
and people are applauding
because he's there.
1506
01:21:00,583 --> 01:21:02,291
ADGER COWANS: I think
he was really touched by that.
1507
01:21:02,375 --> 01:21:04,041
And when he got ready
to get in the car,
1508
01:21:04,125 --> 01:21:05,166
he was like...
(GASPS)
1509
01:21:05,250 --> 01:21:06,791
I mean,
I was right behind him and I'm,
1510
01:21:06,875 --> 01:21:08,708
"Get in the car, man.
Quit fuckin' around."
1511
01:21:08,791 --> 01:21:12,333
♪ (UPBEAT JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1512
01:21:28,791 --> 01:21:31,625
FRAZIER: Zion,
go to your papa's shoulder.
1513
01:21:31,708 --> 01:21:32,958
Stand by him.
1514
01:21:33,041 --> 01:21:35,166
-Me?
-FRAZIER: You're taking
a portrait with me.
1515
01:21:35,250 --> 01:21:38,000
ZION:
Lights, camera, action!
1516
01:21:38,083 --> 01:21:40,041
FRAZIER:
So, here, let me show you.
1517
01:21:40,125 --> 01:21:43,958
So wrap your arm around,
and don't be stiff.
1518
01:21:44,041 --> 01:21:46,916
Come on. This is the shot.
This is an important shot.
1519
01:21:47,000 --> 01:21:49,166
-Yeah.
-FRAZIER: Because I don't have
this one, okay?
1520
01:21:49,250 --> 01:21:53,041
FRAZIER: What Gordon Parks's
legacy in life has showed me
1521
01:21:53,125 --> 01:21:56,041
is that I am
visually representing people
1522
01:21:56,125 --> 01:21:59,791
like how a lawyer
represents the plaintiff
1523
01:21:59,875 --> 01:22:03,541
and their client, right.
And that is a real fight.
1524
01:22:05,583 --> 01:22:07,666
Do you always wear your glasses?
1525
01:22:07,750 --> 01:22:09,250
MR. SMILEY:
I see better without them.
1526
01:22:09,333 --> 01:22:12,500
FRAZIER: Oh, yeah.
Look at those eyes.
All right, Mr. Smiley.
1527
01:22:13,125 --> 01:22:14,625
These aren't projects.
1528
01:22:14,708 --> 01:22:18,666
There is real blood depending on
that work circulating,
1529
01:22:18,750 --> 01:22:20,541
and being out in the world.
1530
01:22:20,625 --> 01:22:24,375
I get to tell this narrative
nobody wanted to tell.
1531
01:22:24,458 --> 01:22:27,208
FRAZIER: So Zion, you're going
to be focused and concentrating
1532
01:22:27,291 --> 01:22:28,583
on me and the lens.
1533
01:22:28,666 --> 01:22:32,166
And I want you to be like,
you know, proud.
1534
01:22:32,250 --> 01:22:34,083
Bring your chin down
just a little bit.
1535
01:22:36,583 --> 01:22:38,875
(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
1536
01:22:38,958 --> 01:22:42,416
FRAZIER: I think it's important
to create this visual narrative
1537
01:22:42,500 --> 01:22:46,041
that pays homage
to Gordon's legacy
1538
01:22:46,125 --> 01:22:47,875
of understanding how to take
1539
01:22:47,958 --> 01:22:50,875
the trauma
behind institutional racism,
1540
01:22:50,958 --> 01:22:54,000
or constantly being
under siege in America
1541
01:22:54,083 --> 01:22:55,250
because you're Black,
1542
01:22:55,333 --> 01:22:58,750
and convey that to a viewer
with an evocative feeling.
1543
01:23:09,041 --> 01:23:12,083
♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1544
01:23:13,416 --> 01:23:16,208
RAZ-RUSSO:
Looking at Gordon Parks's
photographs today,
1545
01:23:16,291 --> 01:23:19,333
what's incredible about them
is that they're timeless.
1546
01:23:19,416 --> 01:23:22,250
They're as relevant today
as they were, you know,
1547
01:23:22,333 --> 01:23:24,375
thirty, 40, 50 years ago.
1548
01:23:24,458 --> 01:23:26,791
STEVENSON: He's created
this catalogue of images
1549
01:23:26,875 --> 01:23:29,916
that today now tell
an important story
1550
01:23:30,000 --> 01:23:32,333
that we're still
trying to understand,
1551
01:23:32,416 --> 01:23:36,083
and if we're willing
to look at that story,
we'll gain an appreciation
1552
01:23:36,166 --> 01:23:39,250
of some truths that we've been
slow to recognize.
1553
01:23:41,125 --> 01:23:44,833
COBB: Gordon resonates
because life
1554
01:23:44,916 --> 01:23:51,083
has continually reminded us
of things that he tried
to tell us.
1555
01:23:52,541 --> 01:23:55,083
We have seen in Minneapolis,
1556
01:23:55,166 --> 01:23:57,208
you know, a city that Gordon
had personal connection to,
1557
01:23:57,291 --> 01:23:59,333
there's a high school
named for him there,
1558
01:23:59,416 --> 01:24:02,583
the most brutal depictions
of racism.
1559
01:24:04,500 --> 01:24:06,833
And you know, we've seen
1560
01:24:06,916 --> 01:24:11,625
just how crucial
images are to us
1561
01:24:11,708 --> 01:24:13,500
understanding our own humanity.
1562
01:24:15,208 --> 01:24:17,291
I don't think
that we really get to understand
1563
01:24:17,375 --> 01:24:19,458
the world that we operate in
1564
01:24:19,541 --> 01:24:22,291
in the same way
that we understand it now
without Gordon.
1565
01:24:25,208 --> 01:24:27,791
BERGER: His influence
is now legendary.
1566
01:24:27,875 --> 01:24:31,250
And I think it's
because he represented something
1567
01:24:31,333 --> 01:24:34,250
that was both
dynamic in its own time
1568
01:24:34,333 --> 01:24:36,208
and years ahead of its time.
1569
01:24:37,541 --> 01:24:38,791
DUVERNAY: When you look at him
1570
01:24:38,875 --> 01:24:41,791
and the many disciplines
and tools he was using.
1571
01:24:42,833 --> 01:24:45,375
Photography,
he was writing books,
1572
01:24:45,458 --> 01:24:48,333
he was making movies.
I mean, he was doing it all.
1573
01:24:48,416 --> 01:24:51,166
That kind of gave me
permission to think,
1574
01:24:51,250 --> 01:24:53,166
you can do more.
1575
01:24:53,250 --> 01:24:56,000
SHABAZZ: As a photographer
and as photographers,
1576
01:24:56,083 --> 01:24:58,000
I think that we
have a responsibility
1577
01:24:58,083 --> 01:24:59,458
to kind of, like, lend our voice
1578
01:24:59,541 --> 01:25:01,166
and use our cameras as weapons
1579
01:25:01,250 --> 01:25:03,333
to counterbalance a lot
that's going on out there.
1580
01:25:04,375 --> 01:25:05,625
You know, so like Gordon,
1581
01:25:05,708 --> 01:25:08,833
what I'm just trying to do now
is offer a counter narrative
1582
01:25:08,916 --> 01:25:10,791
to a lot of the negative images
1583
01:25:10,875 --> 01:25:13,000
that we are
so accustomed to seeing.
1584
01:25:13,083 --> 01:25:15,333
Of course, the photographs
can make a difference.
1585
01:25:17,041 --> 01:25:19,625
BUNCH: What Parks reminds us is
1586
01:25:19,708 --> 01:25:22,625
that the price of liberty
is eternal vigilance.
1587
01:25:22,708 --> 01:25:25,916
That vigilance only comes
from a visual way
1588
01:25:26,000 --> 01:25:28,083
of understanding what
we're experiencing
1589
01:25:28,166 --> 01:25:29,958
and what needs
to be confronted.
1590
01:25:30,041 --> 01:25:32,000
And I think
contemporary photographers
1591
01:25:32,083 --> 01:25:34,333
are really standing
on his shoulders
when they do that.
1592
01:25:37,208 --> 01:25:39,333
ALLEN: When you think about
Gordon Parks and his legacy,
1593
01:25:39,416 --> 01:25:41,625
yes, we love the work,
this is our passion,
1594
01:25:41,708 --> 01:25:43,083
but it's also about
the people you touch
1595
01:25:43,166 --> 01:25:45,875
and how we change their lives
using this art form
1596
01:25:45,958 --> 01:25:47,791
to bring people together.
1597
01:25:54,916 --> 01:25:57,333
FRAZIER: When I'm
shooting images of people,
1598
01:25:57,416 --> 01:26:01,166
I will see a Gordon Parks image,
and I'll know
1599
01:26:01,250 --> 01:26:03,500
that I'm making that portrait
1600
01:26:03,583 --> 01:26:06,666
that's in conversation
with all of that legacy.
1601
01:26:06,750 --> 01:26:12,125
♪ (ORCHESTRAL MUSIC
INTENSIFIES) ♪
1602
01:26:18,875 --> 01:26:22,291
♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪
1603
01:26:22,375 --> 01:26:24,750
FRAZIER: Whenever I get lost,
or stumble, or trip,
1604
01:26:24,833 --> 01:26:28,833
I'll never tire
of always looking to Gordon.
1605
01:26:31,458 --> 01:26:36,000
♪ (INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1606
01:27:40,125 --> 01:27:44,583
♪ (MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪
1607
01:28:25,750 --> 01:28:28,625
♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪