b'Annual Martin Luther King Birthday Observance Images & Words: Medias Influence on the Struggle for Civil RightsIn partnership with the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) and The Gordon Parks Foundation, the 2023 Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday Observance explored the role of the media in civil rights movements past and present. Inspired by the MFAHs concurrent exhibition Gordon Parks: Stokely Carmichael and Black Power, panelists shared their work and perspectives on how photographers and journalists shape narratives around social justice movements and leaders. Noting Dr. Kings mastery of communication strategies alongside the growth of television and photojournalism in the 60s, moderator Tony Diaz, Houston-based writer, activist, and media personality, facilitated a timely conversation about the important role artists play in liberating language and imagery. Panelists Lisa Volpe, Curator of Photography at the MFAH, andPanelists closed the rich discussion encouraging Michal Raz-Russo, Program Director at the Gordonaudience members to have a critical lens on the Parks Foundation, discussed impact of the exhibitioninterpretation of the media they consume and to at the MFAH featuring Gordon Parks LIFE Magazinesupport local photographers and journalists who are feature of Stokely Carmichael, SNCC Chairman andfrom the communities they are reporting on. They also Black Power activist in 1967. Parks used the camerashared the important message that one doesnt have as a weapon against poverty, intolerance, and racismto be on the frontlines of action to be a changemaker, to humanize the resistance and elevate the inherentjust like artists find their own ways to communicate beauty of Black life in the US. and inspire, so can each person tap into their unique skills and passions to make a difference.Artists inspire other activistswe are the truth-tellers and the light-bringers. -Devon Allen, Baltimore-based photographerParks work set the precedent and inspiration for photographers and journalists working today, demonstrating the power of uniting images and words. Panelist and Baltimore-based photographer Devin Allen spoke about his process of photographing the emerging Black Lives Matter Movement from its beginnings in Ferguson in 2014 to the Baltimore Uprising in 2015, landing him a Time Magazine cover with his grassroots views of these important civil rights actions. Allen shared how his photography became activism by counteracting institutionalized medias stereotypical portrayal of Baltimore and Black youth, and how he used social media to tell more direct, authentic, and verified stories. 10'