Welcome to Empowering Spirits - Freeing Your Mind A not for profit site about embracing one
race the Human Race living in the 21st Century offering articles tackling developing spiritual principles, ecomonics, politics. Dialog and Analysis about today's topics and history. Freedom of expression challenges us to reach higher to fufill a broader purpose. "My people perish for lack of knowledge" Stay open to change and have the willingness to grow & evolve.
The Most Highest Deity, is the best example of this. The Author and Finisher of all Men and Humankind, creatures that creep upon the earth....
Men, not just African American Males are born to believe it's okay to father children and not be committed to them. Commitment is lacking to our struggle, where are the real Fathers? I mean we are really caught up on the drive by love affairs, half on a baby R Kelly comes to mind.
We really do not have any true examples of, that type of commitment but, once you take on the role as a father even if you have legally adopted a child, once the marriage or relationship sank didn't mean no responsibility to the care for the child ... lets get real!
Man Up and be that father, a "daddy" any two people can make a baby. Why should a child suffer because of wrong decision or bad choice. None of us can choose our parents, siblings, or relatives. We come into this world innocent butt naked, with no consciousness of worldly belongings, we unconditionally love our parents, we have to trust them to do the right things.
Now let me kick the scripture as normal it's not me but GOD speaking through me, to me and I love to spread the Love.....
Gen 35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; KJV
We have some strong role models our first African American President, Barack is a beautiful example of what real Kings are made of, and he can't change his mind and walk or run, getting locked up and put into drama being distracted by so many beautiful women in the World..... African, Asian, European, Latino so many choices.
When you make a commitment to a partner or marry regardless of the challenges, growing pains is what makes any relationship stronger. Once, you become a Father when the going gets rough, people fall short we become dismayed. Often times looking for another mate on the side which complicates life even more. Remember the young people in your life the adolescent watch your every move and often emulate the same behavior once they've grown into a man or woman, a reflection of you.
Proverbs 22:6-8King James Version (KJV)
6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.
Being a Woman means strength,
nurturing, desire, love, and beauty. But, as she evolves from a girl into a young woman, until she becomes mature her strength increases and when she becomes a mother and a wife her
nurturing increases as well as her desire for her husband and the need to be
encouraged, loved, and desired.
As
time evolves the changes of life, illness, strife, financial strains, or
separation tests her strength and her tenacity for baring and travailing. All the while her beauty has changed from
sexy her shape changes slightly, by the time she reaches her winter womanhood
the glow if she’s blessed her inward beauty will meet her outer beauty like a
butterfly released from a cocoon , she’s free and wise a matriarch that wears
her beautiful crown proudly.
Men
evolve from a boy, who loves playing the hero and seeking adventure by
sewing his wild oats, and when he becomes a Man giving up those childish ways so
he can become the leader a provider, protector, vigorous & strong, he
demonstrates loyalty to those he trust, a hunter always on the hunt to improve
his environment and protect his rights. Males
are visual from the time they are born observant they’re attraction always lean
toward outward beauty, from cars to beautiful women, all shapes and sizes whose
femininity is soft yet vivaciously
strong, then one day, the right one comes along able to serve as his backbone
his Queen to be forever and ever.
He’s now tasked as the leader and protector of
his Kingdom always willing to go the extra mile no matter if he has to do it
alone or with his partner. As they get
older, they often fight to hold on to the vitality of their youth. Always admiring beauty all around it often
becomes a struggle not to be tempted into disloyalty they revert to days of
their youth having lust of the eyes they often rationalize “well, I can window
shop.” But being a Father and a husband can
be rewarding for a man because he has a high bar to fulfill, but if he blessed
to have real back support, he’ll always be able to conquer those things he
fights day in and day out.
We are born and come into the world innocent naked hoping we get a great set of parents carnal being dealt a hand only to be met with a life uniquely designed for us aligned with a bigger plan in mind.
Momma seemed to understand set me on the right path during adolescence was a cakewalk, puberty I woke up misunderstood. Being the only girl, struggling to fit in outside their world.
So I grow, learning to communicate one word, then a thought, until I can stand alone with adulthood issues to problem solve without Mommas help.
Misunderstood
Given the values of a Queen to run any “Kingdome”, coached by many mentors who taught the laws of the sacred Golden rules attended Sunday school; participated in Tom Thumb weddings being prepared to become a wife to fear and love the Lord seeing me as “The Bride” walking hand hand down the aisle. Disillusioned, I misunderstood the facts of life.
Misunderstood..
Barbe & Ken dolls, Doo Wop songs, Temptations, Ojays, Luther, and the like, Main Ingredient kept me Spinning around with high expectations compromised more than once or twice.
Surviving humiliations
With my head held high, seeking my guidance headed east pass Jupiter for the only one who truly does get me, truly loves me exactly as I am.
He understands.
Before I began to compose this, suddenly, in my solitude I hear Smokey Norvel ministering from the radio then at once to my inner voice leaping inside to the song, “I Understand,” it seemed appropriate cause you can’t choose your family, not even your lifetime partner or that handful of friends; maybe?
Who may never get who you really are that sometimes take you for granted as you evolve onward towards a magnificient journey that God has laid out just for you to follow no explanation given we struggle for answers rarely do we understand. We end up growing in truth and love as we learn how to serve our fellow Man in one-way shape or form. Whether life feels routine somewhat self righteous with little or no major ups and downs. Give him Honour, and honour those who teach you,
Just remember GOD Understands, in his word he Proclaims, I AM God the only one who changes not, day in and day out. I call on and rely on Him Jehovah Jireh my Provider, Jehovah Nissi my banner, and El Shaddai Almighty GOD, the strength giver..
Who never sleeps nor slumbers
For I can’t satisfy my own soul, my plight is solo some days I don’t fathom why God moves in his ways I end the day in prayer , getting through the mine fields each day achieving the Victory seems astounding“Thank You Lord Yeah tho I walk through the valley of the Shadow of death”! At times being persecuted by the world when it doesn’t matter if I’m minding my own business or just standing firm when controversy twists and distorts the direction of life that causes fingers to point, loud whispers, or even laughs life maybe hard but it's fair!
My mind remembering that what don’t kill you sometimes criticism hard as it seem can make you strong. Don’t be like Lot’s wife it symbol, Old Testament “she turned into a pilar of salt, New Testament describes it as being sifted as wheat”
Don't Look Back!
When people leave you or forsake you let them go. In the book, Acts of Faith remember what Iyanla proclaimed that your purpose, my purpose and other people’s purpose are but for, “A reason, a season, or a lifetime.
Walk on, through the wind, walk on thru the rain; Cry out to Him to please take my hand.
In time all things do pass away. And forgive yourself for letting go don’t hold on because moving forward is part of God’s bigger plan. He knows the prequel to the sequel better than you or I even the part about how much you are uniquely a blessing to others and often…
"Never Look Back" Live life on life terms with little or no regrets Oh GOD Please don't let me be
Misunderstood!
@Lovleeannwise 2010 all rights reserved repost and edited 12/31/15
written and produced* by Norman Whitfield* Cornelius Grant Roger Penzabene
You surely must know magic girl Cause you changed my life It was dull and ordinary But you made it sunny and bright
Now, I was blessed the day I found you Gonna build my whole world around you You're everything good, girl And you're all that matters to me
When my way was dark and troubles were near Your love provided the light so I could see, girl Just knowin' your love was near when times were bad Kept the world from closin' in on me girl
I was blessed the day I found you Gonna build my whole world around you You're everything good girl And you're all that matters to me
Baby, you're part of every thought I think each day Your name is in every phrase my lips say Every dream I dream is about you Honey I can't live without you
Baby (baby), baby (baby), baby You're my everything, you're my everything, yes you are (Don't you know you're my everything)
You're the girl I sing about In every love song I sing (You're my everything) You're my winter baby My summer, my fall and spring (You're my everything)
Now, now, I was blessed the day I found you Gonna build my whole world around you You're everything good girl and you're all that matters to me You're my everything, you're my everything, yes you are (Don't you know you're my everything) You're my everything, you're my everything (Don't you know you're my everything) You're my everything, you're my everything
Don't you know you're my everything
GOD You're my Everything besides no human being living or dead no one has cared for me the way you have and still do til this very breath and keystroke. I see you in moving all through my life, in songs like this makes me think only of you, working with my provisions, I've survived more than I suffered all of past sorrows & look ahead to different levels of success. You nurtured me throughout my life protected when I ran through the RED Lights and STOP signs. Still true.
All things work together for Good and to Glorify You
EL SHADDAI
Nothing in this world will ever be greater because of You're Eternal Love for me all of these things are made possible~Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit Living by Faith for your Blessings Eternally - Your my Everything always near guiding my path and You're all that matters to me.
#Peace and Love - GOD Bless @Lovleeannwise 2014 all rights reserved
Since about 400 AD, Christians have celebrated the birth of Jesus. 'Christ' means 'Messiah' or 'Anointed One' - the title given to Jesus - and 'Mass' was a religious festival.
In the West today, the real meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. It has become a non-religious holiday! More children believe in Father Christmas than in Jesus. Christmas Day is a time for eating and drinking too much and watching television.
But the real Christmas story is found in the Christian Bible. It is told in two different books: Matthew and Luke chapters 1 and 2. If you have no Bible, you can read these chapters online. You may think that the story of the birth of Jesus, and the way that the West celebrates Christmas today, do not seem to have many connections.
Mary says "yes"
These chapters tell how Jesus was born as a baby to Mary. This was no ordinary birth! She was not married, she was a virgin, (yes, really!) and an angel had told her she would bear a special baby. Her husband-to-be, Joseph, did not believe her at first. Who would? Then an angel told him in a dream that it was true! Probably no one else believed it. So when they had to travel from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem (near Jerusalem), to register their names with the ruling Roman government, they probably escaped many hard words from other people.
Arrival in Bethlehem brought worry and upset: there was no room for them to stay at the hotel. There was only space in the stable - the animal house for travellers' donkeys and horses.
Jesus was born that night, and as they had no bed for him, they used an animal feeding box filled with the dry grass the animals ate.
Christmas cards and pictures today make it all seem very nice. In truth, it must have been dirty and frightening for a young couple, far from their home and families. Possibly the birth was premature after the stress of the journey. This was a very poor place for Jesus to start his life on earth.
God's plan?
Christians believe that it was exactly God's plan that things happened this way. They say that it shows that Jesus came as a humble, poor person and not as a strong, rich king. They also claim that the birth of Jesus was told many years before in the books of the prophets.
Five hundred years before, the prophet Micah had said,
"But you Bethlehem, though you are small, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The prophet Isaiah had written,
"A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler.
He will be called, "Wonderful Counsellor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace." His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace....
He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time."
These are only two of many prophetic words that told of the birth and life of Jesus, written hundreds of years before His birth.
The shepherds are frightened
At that time, sheep farmers were seen by other people as low and of no value. Yet it was to these shepherds that the birth of Jesus was first announced in an amazing dramatic way:
"That night there were some men looking after sheep in the fields nearby. Suddenly they saw a great light. It was an angel, who said, Don't be afraid. I have good news for you, and for all people. Someone great has been born today. He is Christ, the great King you have been waiting for. He will save you from all that is wrong and evil. You will find him dressed in baby clothes, lying on a bed of dry grass.'"
The story of the wise men
After Jesus was born, wise men came to look for Him, from an area which is now in either Iran or Saudi Arabia. Although they are often called the "Three Kings", the Bible does not say how many there were, or that they were kings. Three is only a guess because they brought with them three gifts. Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh
They were certainly men of learning - probably today we would call them philosophers or scientists. They had seen an unusual new star in the sky, and knew that it told of the birth of a special king. (The star they saw was probably a exploding "supernova" and is known from astronomical records.) They followed the direction of the star- East - and eventually found the place where Mary, Joseph and Jesus were staying. To bring honour to the child, they brought rich gifts: gold, frankincense (a resin which burns with a beautiful smell), and myrrh (plant oil with a very strong sweet smell). These gifts tell us in pictures three key things about Jesus:
Gold: a gift fit for a King
Frankincense: burnt in worship of God
Myrrh: a sign of mortal human-ness - it was used to bury the dead
Jesus a refugee
Herod, the evil king of the area, heard about the child, saw Him as a threat, and sent soldiers to kill Jesus. But God told Joseph in a dream to take Mary and the baby and escape to Egypt. They lived there till King Herod died and then went back to live in Nazareth. We read nothing more about the life of Jesus, except for one story when he was 12, until He reached 30. By the way - note one important thing: Jesus was not a white European, and Christianity is not a Western religion. Christmas cards from different countries often show Mary, Joseph and Jesus in the landscape of that country, and with the racial appearance of that nationality, be it black African, Indian, or Japanese. This is good and right - Jesus came to identify with every racial group. He is "Everyman" for us all.
"As"
Songs In The Key Of Life. It was written by Stevie Wonder.
As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving
And the rose buds know to bloom in early May Just as hate knows love's the cure you can rest your mind assure That I'll be loving you always
As now can't reveal the mystery of tomorrow But in passing we'll grow older every day Just as all that's born is new you know what I say is true That I'll be loving you always
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky, always Until the ocean covers every mountain high, always Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea, always Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream
Did you know true love asks for nothing And acceptance is the way we pay? Did you know life has given love a guarantee To last through forever and another day?
Just as time knew to move on since the beginning And the seasons know exactly when to change Just as kindness knows no shame know through all your joy and pain That I'll be loving you always
Until the day is night and night becomes the day, always Until the trees and seas just up and fly away, always Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4, always Until the day that is the day that are no more
As today I know I'm living, but tomorrow Could make me the past, but that I mustn't fear For I know deep in my mind the love of me I've left behind 'Cause I'll be loving you always
Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky, always Until the ocean covers every mountain high, always Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea, always Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream
We all know sometimes life's hates and troubles Can make you wish you were born in another time and space But you can bet your life times that and twice its double That God knew right where He wanted you to be placed
Until the day is night and night becomes the day, always Until the trees and seas just up and fly away, always Until the day that 8x8x8 is 4, always Until the day that is the day that are no more
As I watched the Sunday morning variety shows talk analysts get bent out of shape about an New York Magazine Article Jonathan Chat forgive me if I mispelled the name wrote this week after the speeches and bickering that took place concerning Attorney General Eric Holder while on the hill also at the National Action Network Conference. President Obama also touched again on this topic concerning Civil Rights as it pertains to Voting Rights etc. Heres something to really discuss which gives more background to why as a race black americans are still staggering along it's an interesting experiment. When are we going to realize our greatness and pull up those saggin pants understand if you don't know where you've been (not just from da hood) you don't know where you're going....
Well. I stumpled upon a great video called "HIDDEN COLORS " if you can't view it here then by all means check Amazon, YouTube.com or any African Book store, that sells video & reading materials might have a copy of the DVD on hand.
I'm a Black Woman in America whose family tree dates back as far as the Emancipation probably before that, but I'm certain because of the geneology tree my maternal grandmother was born in 1902-2002 was raised in Virginia her mother was from Henrico County, VA. My paternal grandmother was born somewhere around the same time few years later because of poor records in the South we can assume around 1910-1948.. Well, I could go back even further then that but for expediency of this article it's not about me or my family history perse' it's about Our History and important piece that should be shared within the African American population but all cultures can share this information with families, our children here in the 21st century. It builds self esteem & dignity to know your history on this planet. It also creates debate of how accuray but facts can be proven if you use all resources to research anybody's claims. As a matter of fact Blacks in America or universally have not always depicted well as being intelligent academically or as a culture in modern society especially here in our Western world until recently past 20 years sports,and enterainment figures reflect prosperity even our prominent Bishops who lead us religiously now enjoy fame & fortune.
So much has been left unaccounted for the past 400 or more years, Alex Haley's Roots depicted a blue print in graphic details of a family that fought to maintain their culture and legacy pure which encouraged many of us to dig a little deeper ~ but not enough is said about the plight and evolution of millions of people who migrated here from different parts of Africa.
Although history hasn't gone far enough in 12 years a Slave we were privileged to read about a free Negro whose sold into slavery and is torn away from his family but is able to reunite with them. America has never totally accepted the permanent damage Blacks still face. We are like a child that was molested and then fell in love with her oppressor only to grew into adulthood with such low self esteem that they are drawn nearer to self-destructive habits or behaviours. Which leaves them displaced within a society staggering the heart and mind it henders much and most are left with scar tissue we call consequences of life. Hmmm those unfortunate ones?
The issue is that so many others were not as fortunate we care to forget that the Blackness or foundation was literally ripped away from a people over many generations even after so much progress has been achieved the wounds from years of sufferage is taking it's toll on the Black race in America. Another example in real life; After world war II GI bill passed which allowed many GI's returning from the war to purchase homes in middle class communities those homes value went up in value and was passed down to their children who invested or sold for double maybe even triple vs. certain neighborhoods because of housing segregation througout America Black GI's offered same veterans benefits homes didn't double in value in certain instances depreciated due crime & urban under-development. Where their peers were able to leave an estate most blacks die in debt leaving their loved ones responsible for clean up and the struggle goes on generation after generation not for all but for majority we never manage to plan ahead. Well, me it's just me not you reading this article... We call this a genetic curse among my spiritual friends because nobody wants to be poor especially in America the land of opportunity and lots of money. My reason for sharing this video because a special person in my life who was kind enough to share it with me. I was very impressed because some of it I didn't know, but alot of it I had read about many years ago. This information is not for sale or duplication you can enjoy this clip here.
Please leave polite comments on how we can heal as a Nation my question did Civil Rights change the way we feel as America toward outside cultures other then your own or has it made you more polarized as a human being about the future society as a whole?
This video like so much history only sheds more light on why it so important to teach our children their history take them to museums and around the world if you have means to how mankind has evolved. IF you are a christian remember Jesus words in his last commandment "that you should love your neighbor as you love yourself." Without fear & prejudice we strive together.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are the vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter, for their will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass. Take kindly in the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You are needed in this world. Do not concern yourself with other worlds, for they do not exist. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding in an ordered manner. Therefore, be at peace with nature and the mysterious process of evolution, whatever you conceive it to be; and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, strive to maintian your own inner peace while you do those things bring you happiness and contribute to the survival of humanity. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
HALF PAST AUTUMN Phil Ponce examines the life and art of Gordon Parks, Life photographer, film director, composer and digital art pioneer. Parks' work, on exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C.
A RealAudio version of this segment is available. NEWSHOUR LINKS:
January 1, 1998 The work of modern artist Joseph Cornell. October 28, 1997 A look at modern China as seen in the works of some modern Chinese artists. October 21, 1997The man who designed the new Guggenheim Museum, Frank Gehry. June 17,1997 Robert Hughes' American Visions, explores the history of American art. May 23, 1997:The Whitney Museum of American Art's Biennial Exhibit in New York City. January 10, 1997 Ellsworth Kelly and Jasper Johns exhibits spark the question: What is Modern Art? Browse the NewsHour's coverage ofarts and entertainment. PHIL PONCE:The people of Fort Scott, Kansas, their images have stayed with Gordon Parks all his life. It was among the people of this prairie town that Parks grew up as the youngest in a family of fifteen children, amid poverty and discrimination. Now, at age 85, Parks can see the full length of his journey from poverty to a life rich in experience and range: photographer, poet, author, film maker, and composer. In the first museum survey of Parks' multi-faceted career Washington's Corcoran Gallery of Art is showing more than 200 of his images, mainly from his work as one of America's leading photojournalists. The exhibition is called "Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks." I talked to Parks at the Corcoran about his early influences.
Humble yet nurturing roots.
GORDON PARKS, Photographer: My mother died by the time I was 15, and already she'd imparted enough of herself to carry me for the rest of my life--when I needed it most after I hit the big world out there, you know, and my father was sort of a wonderful dirt farmer who farmed mostly dirt, had enough food for his children, to eat. So we had a rather meager existence. PHIL PONCE: I've heard you say that your mother was the biggest influence in your life and in your work. GORDON PARKS:She taught me what was right and what was wrong. She would not tolerate any sort of prejudice against another person because of their color. You know, I can feel her looking at me when I do something wrong--even today--even though she died when I was 15. I have a picture on my mantel in my home and my father's picture, next to each other. And I look at them before I make a decision. Parks' "choice of weapons": the camera PHIL PONCE: A key decision--to use a camera as what Parks called his choice of weapons. Beginning in 1942, he helped document the lives of America's poor--its workers--its urban and country dwellers--as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration, a Depression era government agency. That's when he took what would become perhaps his best-known picture. It was of a cleaning woman who worked in his office building. Her name was Ella Watson. GORDON PARKS:That was my first day in Washington, D.C., in 1942. I had experienced a kind of bigotry and discrimination here that I never expected to experience. And I photographed her after everyone had left the building. At first, I asked her about her life, what it was like, and so disastrous that I felt that I must photograph this woman in a way that would make me feel or make the public feel about what Washington, D.C. was in 1942. So I put her before the American flag with a broom in one hand and a mop in another. And I said, "American Gothic"--that's how I felt at the moment. I didn't care about what anybody else felt. That's what I felt about America and Ella Watson's position inside America. PHIL PONCE:You were once given the advice that a great photographer is often somebody who is a good person, who cares about other people. So you do wind up caring, or, in some cases, loving the people you photograph? "The photographer begins to feel big and bloated and so big he can't walk through one of these doors because he gets a good byline; he gets notices all over the world and so forth; but they're really--the important people are the people he photographs. They are what make him." GORDON PARKS:Yes. I usually wind up liking them or understanding them better, even though they may have an evil content. The subject matter is so much more important than the photographer. The photographer begins to feel big and bloated and so big he can't walk through one of these doors because he gets a good byline; he gets notices all over the world and so forth; but they're really--the important people are the people he photographs. They are what make him.
PHIL PONCE:It was at Life Magazine that Parks began to gain a national reputation. He was the magazine's first African-American photographer and used the technique in which he would focus a series on one person to tell a broader story about humanity, itself--like a 1948 life and death story on the violence of gang wars in Harlem through the eyes of Red Jackson, a 16-year-old gang leader. By gaining Jackson's trust and spending time with him, Parks was able to capture lives rarely portrayed in American media. Or his 1961 series on the slums of Brazil from the vantage point of Flavio DaSilva, a 12-year-old boy in Rio who, though sick with tuberculosis, helped support his family--Parks, in effect, adopted Flavio, brought him to the United States to be cured, and still calls him in Brazil to this day. Parks personally helped many of his subjects long after he took their pictures. A lasting love between Parks and his subjects. GORDON PARKS:You have to stay with them; you have to be a part of them. In fact, in stories like that I have gone to live with a family for about a week or so without even taking my camera so that they begin to accept me as a person, as a big brother, or uncle, or, you know, something of that sort, so that they have confidence in me, and I have love for them. And it's a lasting love.
PHIL PONCE:But these images are also part of Parks' vision. The man who shot life's ugly side also captured the side that has to do with elegance, beauty, and glamour--as a leading fashion photographer in Paris.
GORDON PARKS:Well, there's nothing wrong with photographing a very beautiful woman, right, and clothes, beautiful clothes, and so forth and so on, and affording me trips to London and Paris and all over the globe, you know, photographing these gorgeous gowns and fabulous women. You get a certain kind of joy out of that.
PHIL PONCE:Returning from Paris in the 1960's, Parks again chronicled the pain and anger at this nation's poorest; the burgeoning civil rights movement; and the rise of the Black Muslim movement. In portraiture, Parks also captured some of the leading figures of the day: Writer Langston Hughes; jazz great Duke Ellington, actresses Ingrid Bergman and later Barbra Streisand; boxing champion Muhammad Ali. In his 50's Parks' artistic evolution took him in a new direction: films. He was a pioneer African American film director, beginning with "The Learning Tree," based on his autobiographical novel about growing up in Kansas. ACTRESS: No matter if you go or stay think of Cherokee Flats like that till the day you die; that it be a learning tree. From photography to film, music and digital art.
PHIL PONCE:He made 10 other films, including the popular 1971 film "Shaft," an attempt, he said, to give blacks a positive role model, in this case a charismatic detective. Parks, who learned piano from his mother, also went on to compose a symphony, sonatas, concertos, and a ballet on the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
GORDON PARKS:It all comes together now for me, strangely. I've never before the last five years, I've never tried to necessarily tie them together. It just happens that I suppose if I felt that one thing failed me, I'd have something else to go on.
PHIL PONCE:These are some of Parks' latest works. He makes them using computers, photographs, paintings, sculpture, and found objects.
GORDON PARKS:You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery. You can show beauty with it; you can do a lot of things. You can show--with a camera you can show things that you like about the universe, things that you hate about the universe. It's capable of doing both. And I think that after nearly 85 years upon this planet that I have a right after working so hard at showing the desolation and the poverty, to show something beautiful for somebody as well. It's all there, and you've only done half the job if you don't do that. You've not really completed a task.
PHIL PONCE:How do you explain the fact that you've had really such a remarkable life? "I'm just about ready to start, and winter is entering. Half past autumn has arrived."
GORDON PARKS:My life to me is like sort of a disjointed dream. I can't explain it to you. Things have happened to me--incredible. It's so disjointed. But all I know, it was a constant effort, a constant feeling that I must not fail, and I still have that. And now, I feel at 85, I really feel that I'm just ready to start. There's another horizon out there, one more horizon that you have to make for yourself and let other people discover it, and someone else will take it further on, you know. You discover it. Somebody else takes it on. But I do feel a little teeny right now that I'm just about ready to start, and winter is entering.
Half past autumn has arrived. visit: www.pbs.com
************************************************** Phenomenal Woman "Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size But when I start to tell them, They think I'm telling lies. I say, It's in the reach of my armsThe span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. I walk into a roomJust as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It's the fire in my eyes, And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so muchBut they can't touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can't see. I say, It's in the arch of my back,The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. Now you understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It's in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need of my care, 'Cause I'm a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That's me. With much Love,
