In the Classroom

Civil rights activist and photographer, Doris A. Derby

By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

As it so often happens with the passing of notable African Americans, we get the news days and sometimes weeks after they depart. Such is the case with Doris A. Derby, an activist photographer who was seemingly everywhere during the Civil Rights Movement. She joined the ancestors on March 28 in Atlanta and was 82.

Her vital statistics, and she was born Nov. 11, 1939, in the Bronx, are but a small indicator of her commitment to freedom and justice, and her membership in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and her role as a founder of the Free Southern Theater. She was raised in the Williamsbridge section of the Bronx and even as an elementary school student expressed her concern about the inequality and the lack of representation of Black culture in the classroom.

The study of dance was an early dream, and she was reasonably successful winning a scholarship at the Katherine Dunham African dance classes at the Harlem YMCA. But a lifelong endeavor with civil rights took command as a teenager after she joined the Youth Chapter of the NAACP and her church. Besides her involvement in rallies and demonstrations, Doris was a student at Hunter College where she first majored in cultural anthropology.

During her senior year in college, she began traveling abroad, visiting such countries as Nigeria, France and Italy. Back at home her intrepid wanderlust took her to Native American areas, particularly to the Navajo Indian Reservation where she saw firsthand the oppressive conditions the people there endured. These travels and experiences fueled her determination to bring about change and she took that vision and energy into the classroom and into adult literacy programs sponsored by SNCC at Tougaloo College in Mississippi. In this capacity she worked in close association with John O’Neal and Gilbert Moses as a co-founder of the Free Southern Theater. It was around this same period of time that she began to actively photograph the movement activities, with a special interest on documenting the role her comrades played in the fight against racism and discrimination.

From 1963 to 1972 she was a field secretary for SNCC in Mississippi, working hand in hand with Bob Moses and COFO (Council of Federated Organizations), and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), where she often accompanied the indomitable Fannie Lou Hamer. Doris was an indispensable worker in practically every organization to advance freedom during her days in Mississippi, including a child development group, the Head Start Program, and the massive Freedom Summer initiative under the direction of Bob Moses.

Throughout all these activities her camera was busy capturing decisive moments in the struggle, and she was soon a

member of Southern Media, Inc. and began traveling across the state gathering the photos and moments that would be part of various documentaries. Some of these pictures were part of her lectures and exhibits as she taught and trained students to become active in the movement.

In her book “Poetagraphy: Artistic Reflections of a Mississippi Lifeline in Words and Images: 1963-1972” that she published independently in 2019, a good sample of her artistic and political work is showcased. Two of her photographs were published in “Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts of Women in SNCC,” and she also contributed an essay that recounted some of the trials and tribulations that challenged her during that period. Her photographs and exhibits are too numerous to list here, and the same can be said of her academic career that intensified after she left Mississippi in 1972 and focused on completing her M.A. and Ph.D. in social anthropology at the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign.

Doris joined the University System of Georgia State University in 1990 as an adjunct associate professor of anthropology and the founding director of the Office of African American Student Services and Programs. Consistent with her preoccupation with the visual arts and photography, she was the co-founder of the Performing and Visual Arts Council at Georgia State University in 2008. After more than 22 years at the college, she retired, though continued to lecture and work as a consultant.

During her stint at Georgia State University, she lived in Atlanta with her husband actor Bob Banks, both active members of countless institutions and community groups. On Oct. 6, 2011, Doris received the 26th Governor’s Award in the Humanities in Atlanta for documenting and preserving images and stories enabling current and future generations to learn about the Civil Rights Movement and social change in the Deep South.

Doris A. Derby in 2014

ACTIVITIES

FIND OUT MORE

The best place to discover the tireless work and commitment is to visit her papers housed at Emory University in Georgia.

DISCUSSION

When and how she began her passionate embrace of the camera cries out for background and development.

PLACE IN CONTEXT

Doris came of age during the Civil Rights Movement era and played a significant role in its successes.

THIS WEEK IN BLACK HISTORY

April 11, 1939: Jane Bolin became the first Black woman to become a U.S. judge, presiding over New York City’s Domestic Relations Court.

April 11, 1933: Tony Brown, journalist, was born in Charleston, W. Va.

April 12, 1940: Jazz great Herbie Hancock was born in Chicago.

In February, Adams homed in on rampant subway crimes, and the spike in crime overall, after the tragic death of Michelle Go, 40, who was pushed in front a train by a mentally disturbed homeless man. He released his Subway Safety Plan that put more cops in the subways and expanded outreach and mental health services to homeless individuals.

In March, cops caught onto a lone gunman targeting homeless people in New York City and Washington, D.C. The spree resulted in five shootings, two deaths, and an urgent manhunt in both cities. Adams also decided to lift mask mandates for most schools, for pro athletes and performers, and the private-sector vaccine mandate. Many people saw it as just a carve-out for Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving to return to playing and avoid getting vaccinated.

In April, Adams rallied with the family of 12-year-old Kade Lewin, who was fatally shot in a parked car with family members in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. He also began a two-week blitz of sweeping homeless encampments off the streets and subways, while offering safe haven and stabilization beds in shelters. Advocates were not happy at all about the sweeps, calling them an inefficient and callous way to deal with the unhoused.

Adams has had some contention with the media and colleagues in government.

“I am disappointed in Mayor Adams’ agenda which is making New York into even more of a police state,” said Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan in Harlem. “At every turn he has criminalized every prospect of living and forced budget cuts to the agencies our city needs, while the city has a surplus of funds. You can’t arrest your way through a homeless crisis, you cannot fix transportation with more police, and you can not handle a rodent infestation by removing trash bins and limiting garbage pick up.”

Jordan said that the mayor spoke out against Florida’s Don’t Say Gay bill, but insisted on the hiring of people with homophobic beliefs. She called Adams “reckless and untrustworthy.”

At an Manhattan Institute event last week, political commentator for Spectrum News NY1 Erroll Louis and Deputy Editor of THE CITY Alyssa Katz spoke to Adams’ performance as mayor in a panel.

Katz called Adams a bit “armored” and consistently trying to control the narrative of stories. On April 4, Politico released a leaked Zoom call where Adams demanded that all city agency communications be run through a bottleneck at city hall before being made public.

“It’s a mistake,” said Louis. He said it’s understandable to want to message discipline as a politician but ultimately the media and city hall are supposed to have a conversation.

Louis said that the best of this administration will be expressed if it “sticks to strategies that address underlying conditions” that predate both it and the COVID-19 pandemic. He said short-term tactics that address “symptoms rather than causes” are likely to lead to unpopularity for Adams.

Louis also questioned if there were practical limits to Adams’ governing style of empathy and emotional intelligence, and if the crisis on Rikers Island was receiving enough attention.

Still Adams inspires support and a degree of loyalty from plenty of officials.

“Since Mayor Adams took office, my team and I have been deeply engaged with his administration to help build a stronger, fairer Queens for all 2.4 million people who call The World’s Borough home,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr.

Richards said he looks forward to working with Adams on longstanding health care inequities facing Rockaway families, supporting Queens small businesses, investing heavily in sustainability efforts, and combating a rise in hate crimes.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson said that Adams recognizes the challenges the city is facing and is putting forth a bold plan to address inequity, poverty, and public safety, among other issues.

“It is never easy to create a plan that everyone can support but I appreciate Mayor Adams’ commitment to serving all five boroughs and recognizing that the Bronx needs investments in the Hunts Point Produce Market, our public schools, and in creating access and opportunities for our youth,” said Gibson. “Our administration looks forward to working with the Adams administration to address systemic inequality, unstable housing, protect tenants and homeowners, invest in education and our small businesses and identify creative approaches to address public safety for all New Yorkers.

Press secretary Fabien Levy announced this past weekend that Adams had “a raspy voice,” took a PCR test, and was confirmed positive for COVID. While isolating Adams will be working remotely, which is probably an annoying and unfortunate way to end his first 100 days in office.

“At this time, the mayor has no other symptoms, but he is already isolating and will be canceling all public events for the remainder of the week,” said Levy. “He is also going to immediately begin taking the anti-viral medications offered for free to New York City residents and encourages all New Yorkers eligible for these medications to take them as well.”

Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about culture and politics in New York City for The Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting: https://tinyurl. com/fcszwj8w

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