Directors: Ry Ferro, Deborah C. Hoard Producer: Deborah C Hoard
Description:
Dorothy Foreman Cotton was a bold and highly effective civil rights leader, who educated thousands about their citizenship rights and inspired generations of activists with her powerful freedom songs. The only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 's executive staff, Dorothy was a charismatic, courageous and consistently overlooked key player in the Civil Rights Movement, whose freedom schools, freedom songs and messages of empowerment are profoundly needed today.
Biography:
Ry Ferro co-directed this documentary, which chronicles and celebrates the civil rights work and accomplishments of Dorothy Foreman Cotton, with fellow Ithaca resident Deborah C. Hoard. Move When the Spirit Says Move: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton chronicles the remarkable work of Cotton, who was the only woman on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s executive staff, and who lived the last 25 years of her life in Ithaca. The film includes insights, commentary, reflections, and recounts from notables such as Andrew Young, LaTosha Brown, and Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson as well as many Ithaca colleagues and friends such as Nia Nunn, Sean Eversely Bradwell, Cal Walker, Laura Branca and Margo Hittleman. The soundtrack for the film features original music by local musicians Michale Stark, Zaun Marshburn, and Singtrece McLaurin as well as the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers.
Deborah C Hoard is known for Move When the Spirit Says Move: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton (2023), Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan (2021) and Civil Warriors (2016).
