Videos

In 1995, in honor of Derrick’s 65th birthday, his wife, Janet Dewart Bell established the Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society at New York University School of Law. Janet worked tirelessly to coordinate each year’s Lecture and the birthday dinner for Derrick that followed. Below is a link to the 2009 Derrick Bell Lecture as presented by Professor Emma Coleman Jordan of Georgetown University Law Center.

Music held an important place in Derrick Bell’s life providing hope, strength, and a connection to past struggle. Recognizing the history of slave spirituals, Professor Bell had a deep appreciation for the “theology in song” that empowered slaves to “transcend the awful oppression that defined their lives.” Each year, Professor Bell organized a Gospel Choir Concert, which quickly became an institution at NYU Law. Appreciating the inspirational strength that gospel music provides to overcome challenges of all kinds, he sought to share the gift of music with the law school community. As he put it, “law school is certainly not slavery or segregation, but legal education can be a more subtle though still effective subordination of self.” And so, through a series of performances mixing spoken word with gospel performances, he offered programs “intended as a form of musical reassurance.” The four clips that follow are from the Bell Annual Gospel Choir Concert in 2009, with performances by the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir singing I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired, Guide My Feet, Order My Steps and The Battle is not Yours (It’s the Lord’s).

Finally, below are links to a series of interviews with Professor Derrick Bell, where he describes, in his own words, his life story and experiences as a civil rights lawyer, activist, scholar and teacher.

14th Annual Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society
NYU School of Law, November 2009
Professor Emma Coleman Jordan

 

Derrick Bell: Pioneer of the Protest Movement (Part 2)

 

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir
Derrick Bell’s Gospel Choir Performance
“I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired”
NYU School of Law, 2009

 

Derrick Bell interview on NPR.
http://www.npr.org/2011/10/07/141152319/stand-up-speak-out-derrick-bell-told-law-students

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir
Derrick Bell’s Gospel Choir Performance
“Guide My Feet”
NYU School of Law, 2009

 

Derrick Bell: Advice to Young African Americans

 

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir
Derrick Bell’s Gospel Choir Performance
“Order My Steps”
NYU School of Law, 2009

 

 

Derrick Bell: My family

 

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn Choir
Derrick Bell’s Gospel Choir Performance
“The Battle is not Yours (It’s the Lord’s)”
NYU School of Law, 2009

 

Derrick Bell: Employed by the U.S. Department of Justice

 

Derrick Bell: Civil Rights Cases

 

Derrick Bell: Appointed Law School Dean

 

Derrick Bell: Scholarship