Today is June 9. Had she lived, this would be Dorothy Foreman Cotton’s 93rd birthday. Even now, her well-deserved stardom is rising.
Through our documentary Move When the Spirit Says Move: the Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton, she is continuing to teach, affirm and motivate people with her life story, the narratives of her colleagues, friends and family, and most powerfully, her own voice.
The film is a collaboration between the Dorothy Cotton Institute and filmmakers Deborah Hoard and Ry Ferro at PhotoSynthesis Productions (PSP). You can read about our team and see a full and growing list of film festivals where the documentary has been or will be featured. This film has a big impact on people, and viewers have commented that it should be seen by all students and teachers.
Here in Ithaca, MOVE it had its east coast premier in April at the Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival (FLEFF) for a two-week run at indie film house Cinemapolis, then was back by popular demand for a week-long encore in May. We are excited that through the generosity of the Ithaca City School District, the Park Foundation, and the support of a large number of individual donors, over 300 high school students, teachers, and a group of Seniors in our community have been able to see the film for free. Yesterday morning and today, around 230 students from Lehman Alternative School and Ithaca High School saw Move When the Spirit Says Move with their teachers. We are truly delighted and hope to hear about the young people’s experiences.
Beyond Ithaca, Dorothy Cotton’s story has moved and inspired activists and educators at a number of special screenings: for Civil and Human Rights icons and foot soldiers at the National Council of Elders; for the Highlander Research and Education Center’s 90th anniversary and with their support, at a conference of Folk Schools in Copenhagen; for the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom School training; and this month, at Juneteenth celebrations at Colorlines.com, the African Diaspora Film Festival in Chicago, and the Nashville African American Music Museum.
At the SCLC, Dorothy’s work with Septima Clark and Andrew Young brought the powerful Citizenship Education Program classes to thousands of people throughout the southern states, struggling to end legalized segregation under Jim Crow laws. Their influence and courage in organizing to end American-style Apartheid led to the historic 1964 Civil Rights Act. and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which we will be commemorating and celebrating this August 6th. We believe that Dorothy would be so very proud that her remarkable legacy is alive and moving people who had never heard about her. We also believe that this film contributes a compelling affirmation of the power of education, our right to know our rights, and to know and truthfully teach our American history.
“We are all diminished when the rights of any are violated. We will thrive as individuals and as a collective when all our rights are protected and respected. The movement for human rights is a story about all of us, opening up a space for the beloved community”.
(Dorothy Cotton, If your Back’s Not Bent, 2012: p.322)
In January 2021 at a Stanford University film festival, themed Where Do We Go From Here, and in April 2021, in partnership with Tompkins County The History Center in celebration of Black Women’s History Month, the Dorothy Cotton Institute gave virtual screenings of THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! This is a short film by Deborah Hoard of PhotoSynthesis Productions which was produced during the pandemic with footage from the feature-length documentary currently in production, MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE, about Dorothy’s life and legacy. THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! has won two prestigious awards this year:
First Place in the Social Issues Documentary category in the New York Women In Film and Television (NYWIFT) Online Shorts Festival! THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! is available to watch on YouTube. The 11 minute documentary tells the story of Dorothy Foreman Cotton – a bold, highly effective and important civil rights leader. Throughout her long life she organized, she spoke out, she challenged the status quo, she sang powerful freedom songs. Most importantly, she ran a Citizenship Education Program that moved thousands of people from a mindset of “victim” to that of a fully-engaged citizen in the Jim Crow south. She was the only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Executive Staff, yet her contributions have largely gone unrecognized.
THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! has also won a Bronze Telly Award! The Tellys are a very large competition with lots of categories – we won in Non-broadcast Social Responsibility. https://www.tellyawards.com/
“The Telly Awards is the premier award honoring video and television across all screens. Established in 1979, The Telly Awards receives over 12,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents. Entrants are judged by The Telly Awards Judging Council—an industry body of over 200 leading experts including advertising agencies, production companies, and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry and includes executives from Dow Jones, Duplass Brothers Productions, Complex Networks, A&E Networks, Hearst Media, ESPN Films, RYOT, Vice+ and Vimeo. Winners are selected for recognition based on excellence in the following areas: Branded Content, Commercials & Marketing, Immersive & Mixed Reality, Non-Broadcast, Series / Shows / Segments and Social Video.”
Dorothy Cotton was a bold, highly effective and important civil rights leader, the only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Executive Staff. In celebration of Black Women’s History Month, The History Center and the Dorothy Cotton Institute are hosting a virtual screening of the award-winning short film THERE’S YOUR READY GIRL! which was produced during the pandemic with footage from the feature-length documentary currently in production, MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE, about Dorothy’s life and legacy. Screening of the 11-minute film will be followed by a panel discussion on the experience of working with Dorothy and the role of women in Civil Rights history, featuring excerpts from a newly recorded interview with Ambassador Andrew Young and appearances by filmmaker Deborah C. Hoard, Dorothy Cotton Institute Fellows Laura Branca and Margo Hittleman and special guests.
This event will take place over Zoom. Register to receive reminder emails about the event, and you’ll access the meeting information to join on April 14th. https://thehistorycenter.net/event-4222277/Registration