Prior to his breakthrough with the blaxploitation classic Shaft, Gordon Parks, who became the first African-American director to direct for a major American film studio, gave us one of the greatest and most compelling coming-of-age films.

The plot, which is based on Parks' semi-autobiographical novel, follows a Kansas teenager through the 1920s and his tough journey into adulthood, which is characterized by a number of tragedies. The film manages to convey much of what makes a Mark Twain novel so entrancing by blending the era's inherent gloom with the the plenty of challenges that comes with being black, especially during that period, with all its attendant prejudice and discrimination.

Every member of the cast, from the lead to the minor,…

Words hold so much power, outmatched only by actions. In The Learning Tree, the word “boy” (along with another word which I’ll refrain from using here, but it’s one I am sure you can infer) cuts like a knife whenever it is uttered from the mouth(s) of a white character towards a Black character. There are also instances where say a mother, father or uncle calls their son/nephew boy, which is of course normal and carries none of the weight that the word does when spoken out in a demeaning way in the aforementioned context. Gordon Parks illustrates the power of meaning and intention in this way, and he tears down the common belief that words are “just words” often…

Gordon Park’s (Shaft) first feature length film makes amazing use of color. It’s such a beautiful lush film. Although it's a race relations melodrama produced by Hollywood, Parks makes it very personal. The story is based on his childhood in Kansas. It’s a coming of age film, but one we don’t often see. Newt is in his mid-teens and genuinely nice. Back when this was released there hadn’t been many films centered on the likes of Newt. Determined to advance, Newt is discouraged by a white teacher. The principal sheepishly tries to excuse the teacher's ignorance and says hopefully things will change someday. That's not good enough. Newt is ready for change now. Throughout the nicely paced film, he will lose…

State by State (34/50)

Kansas
Date admitted to the union: January 29, 1861
Origin of name: From the Sioux Indian for "south wind people"
Population as of 2020: Estimated to be 2,910,357 inhabitants
Cities of Note: Topeka, Wichita, Overland Park, Dodge City, Lawrence, Leavenworth
Official State Song: "Home on the Range"
Notable LB Users: The_Ploughman

The Sunflower State that's responsible for being the heartland of the country, by way of it being the geographic center of attention (if one only counts the contiguous 48 states) and prairies and farmlands that fill the gullet of many Americans, is certainly more than the flat, boring flyover state one might associate it as. Once home to the glorious Western dream of herds of…

Took a while to get going for me - the first half is a bit rambling in its episodic structure, even though it introduces themes of systemic racism, individual powerlessness in the face of oppressive authority, and difficult choices for young Black men in 1920s Kansas early on (trying to avoid direct comparisons with TKAM here)--Kyle Johnson (Son of Nichelle Nichols!!) is a bit of a void here, but that's sort of the point - he's very much struggling to find a life outside of the frame of Parks' camera, and Johnson shows that silent struggle all over his features--Parks, for his part, does a GREAT job of framing the landscape in vistavision--especially as a debut feature. Every time we're…