Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Colin Kaepernick, Usher, and More Gather to Celebrate Art and Activism at the Annual Gordon Parks Foundation Gala

On Tuesday, a crowd of artists, athletes, educators, and activists descended upon Cipriani 42nd Street for the annual Gordon Parks Foundation gala. A dizzying cocktail hour that felt like a family reunion, with collaborators and friends like Usher, Gayle King, and Ben Stiller spotting one another from across undulating crowds of the glamorously gowned to initiate warm hugs or air kisses, opened the festivities.

The starry guest list exemplified more than Gordon Parks’ influence and legacy in contemporary culture: It served as a representation of the multifaceted nature of Parks’ career, works, and ethos. King, who described the evening as “a night of Black excellence,” presented honors to civil rights activist and former chairman of the NAACP Myrlie Evers-Williams, who addressed the crowd via video message. Tim Reid and Sherry Bronfman paid tribute to the late Richard Roundtree, who starred in Parks’ 1971 film Shaft. Bronfman treated the crowd to anecdotes of working on-set with the duo before joking about her speech going long. “I’ll read it to my writing class,” Bronfman exclaimed before concluding her remarks. Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith then took the stage for a surprise performance of “Peaceable Kingdom” alongside bandmate Tony Shanahan.

“Gordon Parks was a big believer in [the idea that] all sorts of beings can make and change the world,” executive director of the foundation Peter W. Kunhardt Jr. told Vanity Fair. “Whether you’re an athlete or photographer or choreographer or filmmaker—they’re all using their creative means to make a difference in the world. So tonight’s honorees really are a cross-section…of artist and activism and supporting the next generation of young artists through our fellowship program.”

Under the quippy supervision of auctioneer Hugh Hildesley, the foundation raised a record-breaking $2.3 million to advance the organization’s work, which includes scholarships and community-based initiatives. Before working for Vogue and Life magazine, Parks was the first recipient of the Julius Rosenwald Fellowship for photography in 1941, landing him at the Farm Security Administration in Washington, DC. “The rest is history,” Kunhardt said.

During the auction, one of Parks’ vibrant color works depicting an ice-cream shop in segregated Alabama sold for over $200,000—after a bidding match between Usher and another guest. Usher lost the lot but snagged a surprise item soon after, much to the satisfaction of the rest of the room.

Former Foundation Fellow, photographer, and activist Devin Allen then honored this year’s fellows: Howard University professor Larry W. Cook, Chicago-based activist and artist Tonika Lewis Johnson, and Baltimore author D. Watkins. Amy Sherald presented the Patrons of the Arts award to Alicia Keys and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean, shouting out the fellow artists in the Dean Collection to responsive shouts of approval and pride.

“When I think of Gordon Parks, I think the how comes from the real true love and the real true desire to make something special because it means something to you and it means something to the people that are able to see it and hear it and watch it and bear witness to it, and that’s when it’s extra special because it means something to all of us,” Keys said upon accepting the award. “When those kindergarteners go to Giants [the couple’s exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum] and those five-year-olds go see Hell’s Kitchen [the musical based loosely on Keys’ own experience growing up in New York] and they know that there’s no place we don’t belong: That’s the point.”

The notions of intergenerational uplift and the responsibility to shepherd those who are coming next continued as Carrie Mae Weems presented honors to mixed-media artist Mickalene Thomas. “Mickalene, you are a muse and a marvel,” Weems declared. “A woman of this time.” Thomas, in kind, was moved near to tears. “In 1994, I saw the ‘Kitchen Table’ series, and it changed my life. I wanted to be an artist that day. Thirty years later, I stand in front of you and I am that artist.”

Director Spike Lee closed the evening’s awards with a final presentation in which he lamented over the New York Knicks, “Since Sunday afternoon, I’ve been feeling kind of blue,” drawing laughs from attendees before directing the crowd to stand in honor of athlete and activist Colin Kaepernick.

As the revelries came to a raucous close under the sonic guidance of DJ D-Nice, who orchestrated an inspired flip of “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar’s diss track aimed at Drake, into Too Short’s “Blow the Whistle” guests flocking to the bar, dance floor, or to the waiting cars, Kasseem Dean’s earlier sentiments appeared to be carried in each goodbye, closing conversation, and final embrace. “We have a lot of work to do,” Dean said. “With Giants, it’s just the beginning. With Gordon, it’s just the beginning.”