Writing Inspired by Gordon Parks and Richard Wright

By Pier Penic

On Thursday, February 7th, students from the Culture at Home homeschool community met at the National Gallery of Art for a tour of the exhibit Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940-1950. The exhibition provides a detailed look at Parks's early evolution through 150 photographs, rare magazines (Life Magazine, Ebony, Jet), newspapers, pamphlets, and books.

The students were split into two groups and led by National Gallery of Art docents on a tour that focused on the racial inequality, poverty, and successes experienced by the African American community after World War II. Students engaged in group discussion and photo analysis

Inspired by the book 12 Million Black Voices by Richard Wright, which pairs Wright’s prose with photos depicting the lives of black people in 1930s America, students engaged in a writing assignment and a poetry slam.

From Tuskegee Airman Captain George Knox to a government charwoman, each student received a photograph from the exhibit to take home.