“As Parks sifts through the cache of memories his Promethean talents have created, he refuses to be bitter about the denials, limits and indignities that have been, at one time or another, imposed upon his work. His trials have made him widely empathetic toward victims of any prejudice and skeptical about the privileges of race, class, or nation to establish the proper basis for human interaction. Through the power of his words, this intelligent and sensitive interpreter of human experience has now turned the mirror toward us, as well as himself; we, like Parks, must be judged by the integrity of our response to what we hear and see. Let us hope that we are half as successful as he has been.”–Michael Eric Dyson, in his essay “Gordon Parks: Prometheus in Motion”, written for Gordon Parks in Retrospect, a 1996 Regis Dialogue and Retrospective at Walker Art Center.
MNStories also put up a nice obituary post with a video clip of Mr. Parks as well. Take a look.