Organizers: Parks fete important to city

The annual Gordon Parks Celebration of Culture and Diversity is an important event for the community and Fort Scott Community College, organizers said Tuesday.

The three-day celebration, which starts today, is a component of the Gordon Parks Museum and Center at FSCC. It was created in 2004 by FSCC to honor Parks, a Fort Scott native and noted photographer, writer, musician and filmmaker. The seventh annual event continues through Saturday.

"I think it's great exposure to the college and Fort Scott," Celebration Director Jill Warford said. "Ruby Dee, she doesn't come here. Guy Davis. Peter Kaplan. It's all because of Gordon Parks, because he was from here. ... I think it shows the respect that he still has with his friends and colleagues."

Major events during this year's celebration include a community celebration of faith service featuring special musical guests Voices of Glory, finalists on the fourth season of the television show "America's Got Talent," a presentation of photographs taken by Kaplan, a well-known photographer, and the annual tribute dinner that will include the presentation of the 2010 Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award to actress Ruby Dee.

Named for his autobiography, the Choice of Weapons award honors someone who has excelled in the areas that Parks did and exemplifies Parks' spirit and strength of character.

Previous honorees include actor and musician Avery Brooks, photographer Howard L. Bingham, Elizabeth Eckford and Ernest Green, two of the Little Rock Nine, Richard Roundtree, star of the Parks-directed film, "Shaft," and Nichelle Nichols of "Star Trek" fame.

Blues guitarist Guy Davis, Dee's son, is scheduled to perform during the tribute dinner.

Other events include film screenings, panel discussions on the topic of diversity, a photo exhibition by Parks' daughter, Toni Parks, a presentation by Barbara Baker Burrows, photo editor at Life magazine, about her new book on the British Royal Family, among several others.

Warford said she expects several of the events to attract plenty of attention.

"I think Voices of Glory will be very popular, because a lot of people did watch or do watch America's Got Talent," she said. "People interact with the panelists during the panel discussions. And then, of course, there's the Ruby Dee tribute dinner."

Warford said many people she has talked to who have attended the celebration in the past have commended FSCC for organizing the annual event.

"People are just amazed when they come in, that your small town is doing this for its native son," she said.

Tickets for all events that require tickets are available until Friday at the Gordon Parks Center and Museum at FSCC, 2108 S. Horton, or Country Cupboard, 12 N. Main St. A schedule of events is available on the website, www.gordonparkscenter.org.

More than 1,000 people from different parts of the United States attended last year's celebration, Warford said. For more information, contact the center at 223-2700, ext. 515 or by e-mail at gordonparkscenter@fortscott.edu.