Sandra K. Friday
In 1948 Parks screwed up his courage and took his photographs to
Life
magazine to look for work. As he tells it, he was nearly thrown out since he had no appointment and just walked into the picture editor's office, unannounced. But his photos were so well received that, on the spot, he was given two assignments: a feature on gang warfare in Harlem, and a fashion show of Paris collections. By this time he had worked for
Vogue
magazine for a few years, and fashion photos were part of his portfolio.
On a visit to a precinct station in Harlem, Parks ran into Red Jackson, the gang leader of a notorious gang in Harlem, the Midtowners. By offering Jackson the use of his car as a limousine service, Parks gained access to many of the gang members while he ferried them around town.
One result is the photo of "Red Jackson," (
HPA
, p. 81), that profiles his broken nose and cigarette dangling from his mouth, as he looks through a broken window. The light coming through the broken window sets off his facial features and shoulder, creating a contrast with the darkness behind him. The broken window is fractured in horizontal waves; the glass is missing at both the bottom and top.
Although Parks took this photo in 1948 and he took Malcolm X in 1963, these two photos of black men, both powerful in their own right, provoke a dialogue
between
them. Malcolm X is dressed in a suit with a white shirt and tie; some sort of lapel pin is visible, and he has a pen in his pocket. He is a literate man, addressing an audience with a microphone. His arm is raised as if to quiet the crowd. Jackson is wearing a flannel or fleece shirt, peering, stealthily, out through the broken window, surveying the street from the shadows.
Here too, the three chapters from
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
seem appropriate, as Malcolm X was himself once a hustler who lived on the street, just as Red Jackson did.