--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your…" description: "\"You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a 35mm camera on my lap, and my weapon is just as powerful as yours. (To Black Panther militan..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/gordon-parks-14120_african-american_you-have-a-45mm-automatic-pistol-on-your_2358876.jpg" --- # You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a… ![“You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a 35mm camera on my lap, and my weapon is just as powerful as yours. (To Black Panther militant Eldridge Cleaver)” quote by Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/gordon-parks-14120_african-american_you-have-a-45mm-automatic-pistol-on-your_2358876.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/gordon-parks-14120_african-american_you-have-a-45mm-automatic-pistol-on-your_2358876.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c48/gordon-parks-14120_african-american_you-have-a-45mm-automatic-pistol-on-your_2358876.jpg) > “You have a 45mm automatic pistol on your lap, and I have a 35mm camera on my lap, and my weapon is just as powerful as yours. (To Black Panther militant Eldridge Cleaver)” [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The camera can be as powerful as a gun, shaping perception and influencing change more than violence. **In simple terms:** Images can wield power like weapons. Key Takeaway Use visual storytelling to challenge oppression. Themes art activism power perception change Mood thoughtful empowering Type inspirational political When to use this quote - photojournalism - civil rights protests - media campaigns - educational workshops Key Concepts visual rhetoric social impact nonviolent resistance Questions to Reflect On - How can you use visual media to confront injustice? - What responsibilities come with visual influence? A Different Perspective Power of images may be limited without audience reach. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [African american](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/african-american/) [Automatic Pistol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/automatic-pistol-798922/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black panther](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-panther/) [Cameraman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameraman/) [Cameras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cameras/) [Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cleaver/) [Eldridge Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eldridge-cleaver/) [Gun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gun/) [Handguns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/handguns/) [Lap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lap/) [Lap Weapon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lap-weapon-5768620/) [Militant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/militant/) [Panther Militant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panther-militant-5768622/) [Panthers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/panthers/) [Photography](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/photography/) [Pistol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pistol/) [Pistol Lap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pistol-lap-5768621/) [Pistols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pistols/) [Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful/) [Weapons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/weapons/) ## Related quotes > [We always had a central committee. They were mesmerized by Eldridge Cleaver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-newton/we-always-had-a-central-committee-they-were-mesmerized-by-eldridge/) [Huey Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-newton/) > [Paul Robeson once said that the artist has the responsibility to either help liberate the community or further oppress it. And I think that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gil-scott-heron/paul-robeson-once-said-that-the-artist-has-the-responsibility-to/) [Gil Scott-Heron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gil-scott-heron/) > [UCLA acknowledged this shift by bringing in Alex Haley (the co-author of The Autobiography of Malcolm X) and Eldridge Cleaver (Soul on Ice) as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/ucla-acknowledged-this-shift-by-bringing-in-alex-haley-the-co-author/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [In 1967, the students at San Francisco State invited the poet Amiri Baraka to the campus for a semester. He attracted other influential black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-glover/in-1967-the-students-at-san-francisco-state-invited-the-poet-amiri/) [Danny Glover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-glover/) > [Bad news drives out good news. The irrational is more controversial than the rational. Concurrence can no longer compete with dissent. One minute of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spiro-t-agnew/bad-news-drives-out-good-news-the-irrational-is-more-controversial/) [Spiro T. Agnew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spiro-t-agnew/) > [“You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. " Eldridge Cleaver”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eldridge-cleaver/you-are-either-part-of-the-solution-or-part-of-the-problem-eldridge/) [Eldridge Cleaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eldridge-cleaver/) > [ I don't want people to think he \[Eldridge Cleaver\] is so important - our party is important because our party works for the people… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-newton/i-don-t-want-people-to-think-he-eldridge-cleaver-is-so-important-our/) [Huey Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-newton/) > [“The rifle and the pistol are still the equalizer when one man is more of a man than another, and if…he is really smart…he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-rifle-and-the-pistol-are-still-the-equalizer-when-one-man-is-more/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [“Now that he was off the street, he drew the Beretta from his jeans. A military variant of the popular police officer’s sidearm known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-jordan/now-that-he-was-off-the-street-he-drew-the-beretta-from-his-jeans-a/) [Will Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-jordan/) > [“One of the first significant, substantial purchases I made after starting testosterone, was a Compact Colt .45 1991 A1 automatic pistol. It's just about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-first-significant-substantial-purchases-i-made-after/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ “All I can say is, it's a good thing we didn't win the revolution \[laughter\]. We would've ended up with people like Abie Hoffman… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-crumb/all-i-can-say-is-it-s-a-good-thing-we-didn-t-win-the-revolution/) [R. Crumb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-crumb/) > [“The White House espionage group was responsible for killing 28 Black Panthers and other minority leaders. They also were determined to exterminate leaders inside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mae-brussell/the-white-house-espionage-group-was-responsible-for-killing-28-black/) [Mae Brussell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mae-brussell/) > [“ELDRIDGE CLEAVER (1953-I998) was a man who made a a significant imprint on our times, and not for the best. But I mourn his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-horowitz/eldridge-cleaver-1953-i998-was-a-man-who-made-a-a-significant-imprint/) [David Horowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-horowitz/) > [“...you can jail revolutionaries, but you can’t jail the revolution. You might run a liberator like Eldridge Cleaver out of the country, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-hampton/you-can-jail-revolutionaries-but-you-can-t-jail-the-revolution-you/) [Fred Hampton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-hampton/) > [“Although Chester wrote about Harlem and black workers struggling to get ahead, he was reared in the Deep South and Cleveland, the middle-class child…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-p-jackson/although-chester-wrote-about-harlem-and-black-workers-struggling-to/) [Lawrence P. Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-p-jackson/) ## More by Gordon Parks > [You know, the camera is not meant just to show misery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/you-know-the-camera-is-not-meant-just-to-show-misery/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [The camera could be a very powerful instrument against discrimination, against poverty, against racism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/the-camera-could-be-a-very-powerful-instrument-against-discrimination/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I bought my first camera in Seattle, Washington. Only paid about seven dollars and fifty cents for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-bought-my-first-camera-in-seattle-washington-only-paid-about-seven/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [But I do feel a little teeny right now that I'm just about ready to start, and winter is entering. Half past autumn has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/but-i-do-feel-a-little-teeny-right-now-that-i-m-just-about-ready-to/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I was born to a black childhood of confusion and poverty. The memory of that beginning influences my work today, It is impossible now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-was-born-to-a-black-childhood-of-confusion-and-poverty-the-memory/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I had known poverty firsthand, but there I learned how to fight its evil - along with the evil of racism - with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-had-known-poverty-firsthand-but-there-i-learned-how-to-fight-its/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [Many times I wondered whether my achievement was worth the loneliness I experienced, but now I realize the price was small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/many-times-i-wondered-whether-my-achievement-was-worth-the-loneliness/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I do find a certain fascination with the unpredictable. The transitory years we wade through are what they are- what we make of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-do-find-a-certain-fascination-with-the-unpredictable-the-transitory/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [At first I wasn't sure that I had the talent, but I did know I had a fear of failure, and that fear compelled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/at-first-i-wasn-t-sure-that-i-had-the-talent-but-i-did-know-i-had-a/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [The man at Kodak told me the shots were very good and if I kept it up, they would give me an exhibition. Later,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/the-man-at-kodak-told-me-the-shots-were-very-good-and-if-i-kept-it-up/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [Nothing came easy. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/nothing-came-easy-i-was-just-born-with-a-need-to-explore-every-part/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [Washington, D.C. in 1942 was not the easiest place in the world for a Negro to get along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/washington-d-c-in-1942-was-not-the-easiest-place-in-the-world-for-a/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I suffered evils, but without allowing them to rob me of the freedom to expand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-suffered-evils-but-without-allowing-them-to-rob-me-of-the-freedom/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [I have never known anyone important enough to consume me in anger beyond a few hours. Better to depart their existence before they poison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/i-have-never-known-anyone-important-enough-to-consume-me-in-anger/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) > [Enthusiasm is the electricity of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-parks/enthusiasm-is-the-electricity-of-life/) [Gordon Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) [Explore all 48 Gordon Parks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-parks/) ## More African american quotes > [This is, for an accomplished Latino, an accomplished African American, an accomplished anyone who disproves stereotypes, it's a constant battle in your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-sotomayor/this-is-for-an-accomplished-latino-an-accomplished-african-american/) [Sonia Sotomayor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-sotomayor/) > [I grew up in Synagogue in the boys' choir. We didn't listen to music in the house; only at temple. 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