In may 2020, Derrick launched The Southern Griot, LLC as a multimedia company. It centers telling the stories African Americans especially in the South using the Black Southern aesthetic. He draws on all of his education—history, journalism, and documentary expressions to become a creative nonfiction storyteller using multimedia to deliver multilayered, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary stories.
As a documentary student, I created a few documentary projects that I plan to turn into features such as the I Tried located on the Research page and Black Beauty below.
While teaching at Rust College, I not only included my colleagues in my documentary to promote their expertise and share their knowledge but also tapped on students to listen and learn from their stories. Below is the story of one of my students and her pursuit of being a college athlete and her ambitions to play in the women’s football league.
Derrick Lanois, PhD 