A Choice of Weapons: Gordon Parks Interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air (1990)

'The documentary A Choice Of Weapon: Inspired By Gordon Parks is about the great photographer who chronicled the Black experience for Life magazine. Later, he went on to become the first Black director in Hollywood to work for a major studio. We're going to listen to our interview with Gordon Parks. He directed Shaft, the first Hollywood Studio black action film, which went on to inspire a wave of what became known as Black exploitation films. Before Shaft, He directed The Learning Tree, an adaptation of his autobiographical novel about growing up in Kansas. Parks taught himself how to take photographs and became a staff photographer at Life magazine. He worked there for 20 years, documenting everything from fashion shows to gang wars in Harlem. Gordon Parks died in 2006. He spoke with Fresh Air in 1990, when he had published his memoir called Voices In The Mirror.'