Gordon Parks was a Black American who successfully wore many hats as photographer, composer, author, poet, writer and film director. He became prominent in the U.S. in 1940s through 1970s for documentary photojournalism —particularly with issues of civil rights, poverty and the status of Black Americans—and in glamour photography for Glamour Magazine and Ebony. His fashion photography was also published in Vogue from the mid 1940s to the late 197…

Stepin Fetchit, an American vaudevillian and comedian is considered to be the first black actor to have a successful film career that made him a millionaire.

By Woolsey Ackerman Once a film has gone through its’ conception, various script drafts, pre-production, filming and post production, it is time for what many film makers see as the real work—- promotion! In the hey-day of the golden era of movies, each studio had a labor intensive, overly creative and overly worked department for the promotion, advertising and merchandising of each of their movies, as well as for their individual contract personalities.  The campaigns for th…

by Woolsey Ackerman A newly released book, THE MGM EFFECT, by Steven Bingen, tells us just what happened. One of the most recognizable of corporate logos is the MGM lion (as seen above).  This is a story of that corporate history.