Gordon Parks

Another African-American icon has passed away. Gordon Parks was a photographer, journalist, poet, musician, author, and director. A true renaissance man, Mr. Parks was an inspiration to young African-Americans of my generation.

When I was about 9 or 10, I read the novel, THE LEARNING TREE, a fictionalization of Mr. Parks' own coming of age in the south. I loved this book, especially the section on his sexual awakening. As I recall, it happened during a hurricane, and this big black woman lay on top of the adolescent lead character to protect him from the storm, and he felt stirrings in his groin for the very first time. WHOO! That was a hot scene to me, LOL. I know I came back to those pages again and again.

Mr. Parks was the first African-American director to work for a major studio when he adapted, scored and directed the film version of THE LEARNING TREE. I remember thinking the movie was just okay. The hurricane scene was no where near as hot as the book, and I was disappointed. LOL

Mr. Parks' next film was the huge box-office hit, SHAFT! Man, I loved that movie back in the day. SHAFT is called the first in a long line of blaxploitation films. I don't agree with this assesment. SHAFT was an excellent detective/action picture that tapped into the community because it was honest, current, empowering, and directed by an artist.

The films that followed were cheap imitations made to pull droves of Blacks to the theaters, exploiting the fact that we were so hungry for images of ourselves on the big screen that we would settle for the crap Hollywood dished out. The Blacks were being 'exploited', we were definitely not the ones doing the 'exploiting'.

The only Blacks doing any 'exploiting' were the one exploiting the opportunities to finally earn a living as an actor. Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, Ron O'Neal, Judy Pace, Thalmus Rasulala and others were finally able to survive in Hollywood. They may never have been able to find work beyond the limited genre, but the were stars to us, but because they were all we had. (And to be perfectly honest, we always lined up to see Pam Grier movies because it seemed she had no qualms about showing her gi-normous breasteses in every picture!)


In 1972, Mr. Parks' directed SUPERFLY. Once again, he tapped into the zeitgeist of the generation. The clothes, the lingo, the names (we had a puppy who's middle name was Superfly, and my friend had a puppy who's name was Shaft. We would have chosen Shaft, but Phillip got there first.) The action and stories of Black men beating the system gave me and my group of 13-14 year old friends a feeling of empowerment from movies that was unavailable to my father or the generations of Black men that proceeded him.

The music from Mr. Parks' films was groundbreaking. Issac Hayes won an Oscar for THE THEME FROM SHAFT, a song that broke all the rules for Hollywood theme songs with it's R&B and gospel 'call and response' elements. Mr. Hayes paved the way for Three Six Mafia's Oscar win for sure!

The music from SUPERFLY was a revelation. Curtis Mayfield composed a score that transcended the film. Everyone had a copy of that album, or eight track tape for the car. To this day, I know most of the lyrics. They were lyrics that made me look at my environment with a critical eye that led to a deeper knowledge of what was destroying it. Peep this, and it's from memory!

PUSHERMAN
I'm yo mama,
I'm yo daddy
I'm that nigger
In the alley
I'm yo doctor
When you need
Want some coke?
Have some weed
You know me
I'm your friend
Your main boy
Thick and thin
I'm your pusher man.

Listening to these songs at 14, illuminated the danger of the temtations all around me. I credit Mr. Parks for the film and the music (without his groundbreaking work, Curtis Mayfield and Issac Hayes would never have been hired to score a movie) that empowered me and opened my eyes to the human and moral decay that saturated my community. He also infused me with the belief that I could be a part of the industry that manufactured the films I loved so much.

Bon Voyage, Mr. Parks! May you blaze as fine a trail in heaven as you have here on Earth.