MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton

MOVE WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS MOVE: The Legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton

Come join us at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts, Inc. (TCFA) for a special event celebrating the incredible legacy of Dorothy Foreman Cotton. Learn about her impactful work and how she inspired change through her activism.

Dorothy Foreman Cotton was a bold and highly effective civil rights leader, who educated thousands in 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 inspiring messages of the power within us all are profoundly needed today.

Produced by PhotoSynthesis Productions and
The Dorothy Cotton Institute

DIRECTORS’ STATEMENT

There was just something special about Dorothy
Cotton. She sparkled with a spirit of freedom and
a message of empowerment. She inspired people
wherever she went, and that includes in our small
town of Ithaca, New York, where she spent the last
25 years of her life. Hearing her stories, hearing her
break out into song, inspired us to produce this film to help carry her work forward. It felt particularly urgent to make this film—about this trailblazing woman—at this moment in history.

First, in her work as Education Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)’s Citizenship Education Program, Dorothy moved thousands of people from a mindset of victim to that of fully engaged citizen—empowering Black people not only to exercise their right to vote, but to take hold of their full range of rights and responsibilities as citizens. This sort of education is so deeply needed today.

Second, as filmmakers we were moved by the need to redress the under-recognized contribution and sorely neglected role of women in the Civil Rights Movement. Dorothy Cotton was not the only woman whose contributions have been overlooked, ignored, or upstaged. MOVE traces a powerful line from Dorothy’s work to the work of Black women leaders and activists today. We are honored to bring Dorothy’s story to the forefront as an inspiration, in particular to women, to understand their rights and their power to bring about change.

PhotoSynthesis Productions has been making documentary films with a focus on social justice and educa- tion for 40 years. Our work has won hundreds of media awards and screened at festivals and theaters worldwide. Recent work has centered on climate change, civic engagement and participation in American democracy.

The Dorothy Cotton Institute was founded by Dorothy and her colleagues in 2007 to continue and expand her legacy. Dorothy wanted DCI’s work to be relevant to contemporary issues and to bring visibility to 21st century efforts for justice and freedom, civic engagement, and social transformation. She encouraged us to believe in ourselves, speak up, and stop waiting for somebody else to make things better.

Directors: Ry Ferro and Deborah C. Hoard
Story/Writer: Ry Ferro
Producer: Deborah C. Hoard
Executive Producer: Laura Branca
Advisors: Laura Branca, Margo Hittleman, Clayborne Carson, and the Dorothy Cotton Institute Steering Committee

Editor: Ry Ferro
Photographers: Peter Carroll, David Kossack, Ry Ferro, Jeff Hodges
Illustration: Camilo Nascimento
Motion Graphics: Alec Simmons
Sound Design/Sound Mixer: Norm Scott
Music performed by: Michael Stark, Zaun Marshburn, Elbonee Trece McLaurin, and the Dorothy Cotton Jubilee Singers

Film website: https://www.movewhenthespiritsaysmove.com Filmmaker website: https://www.pspny.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MoveWhenTheSpirit- SaysMove

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spiritsaysmove
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/move_when_the_ spirit_says_move/

“I love this movie. . . It’s beautifully shot, it’s compelling, it’s got humor and heart and heartbreak. It has a clear, intersectional analysis. It is inherently optimistic, while also liberatory and radical.”

~ Che Broadnax, Filmmaker and Community Activist, Brooklyn, NY

Host or Publisher Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts