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)