A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks (2021)

An official selection of the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, the HBO documentary A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks explores the enduring legacy of the legendary photographer whose work brought the Black community’s struggle for dignity and justice to middle America on the pages of LIFE magazine from 1948 to 1972, creating a legacy that stands at the pinnacle of socio-historical documentation of the 20th Century.

Directed by Emmy winner John Maggio (Mr. Saturday Night, The Perfect Weapon) and executive produced by Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean and Alicia Keys, the documentary traces Parks’s impact on three contemporary photographers: Devin Allen, whose photograph “Baltimore Uprising” of the Freddie Gray protests was featured on the cover of Time; LaToya Ruby Frazier, who for five years followed the Flint, Michigan water crisis; and Jamel Shabazz, whose photographs on the streets of New York form a visual history of the hip-hop era while simultaneously presenting affirming images for his community.

Other interviewees reflecting on Parks’s lasting impact include The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb, filmmakers Spike Lee and Ava DuVernay, actor Richard Roundtree, historian Khalil Muhammad, and the executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy.