Given annually by

The Gordon Parks Museum Foundation

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The Gordon Parks Center for Culture and Diversity established the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” in October of 2004. It will be awarded at the annual Gordon Parks Celebration, held typically in October on the campus of Fort Scott Community College.

 

Named after his autobiography of the same name, his powerful story tells how he managed to escape poverty and bigotry by choosing the weapons given to him by “a mother who placed love, dignity and hard work over hatred.” His “weapons” were his mind, his persistence, and his quiet strength in the face of injustice. “Learning, I knew, would be the most effective weapon against the coming years,” he writes in A Choice of Weapons. 

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Click here to see our past winners.