Skip to main content

Search

My Visit
Donate
Home Smithsonian Institution

Site Navigation

  • Visit
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Maps and Brochures
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
      • Group Sales
  • What's On
    • Exhibitions
      • Current
      • Upcoming
      • Past
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
  • Explore
    • - Art & Design
    • - History & Culture
    • - Science & Nature
    • Collections
      • Open Access
    • Research Resources
      • Libraries
      • Archives
        • Smithsonian Institution Archives
        • Air and Space Museum
        • Anacostia Community Museum
        • American Art Museum
        • Archives of American Art
        • Archives of American Gardens
        • American History Museum
        • American Indian Museum
        • Asian Art Museum Archives
        • Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
        • Hirshhorn Archive
        • National Anthropological Archives
        • National Portrait Gallery
        • Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
        • Libraries' Special Collections
    • Podcasts
    • Stories
  • Learn
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
      • Art & Design Resources
      • Science & Nature Resources
      • Social Studies & Civics Resources
      • Professional Development
      • Events for Educators
      • Field Trips
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
  • Support Us
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
      • Smithsonian Call Center
      • Ambassador Program
      • Museum Information Desk
      • Docent Programs
      • Behind-the-Scenes
      • Digital Volunteers
      • Participatory Science
  • About
    • Our Organization
      • Board of Regents
        • Members
        • Committees
        • Reading Room
        • Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
        • Schedules and Agendas
        • Meeting Minutes
        • Actions
        • Webcasts
        • Contact
      • Museums and Zoo
      • Research Centers
      • Cultural Centers
      • Education Centers
      • General Counsel
        • Legal History
        • Internships
        • Records Requests
          • Reading Room
        • Tort Claim
        • Subpoenas & Testimonies
        • Events
      • Office of Human Resources
        • Employee Benefits
        • How to Apply
        • Job Opportunities
        • Job Seekers with Disabilities
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • SI Civil Program
        • Contact Us
      • EEO & Small Business
        • EEO Complaint Process
        • Individuals with Disabilities
        • Small Business Program
          • Doing Business with Us
          • Contracting Opportunities
          • Additional Resources
        • Special Emphasis Program
      • Sponsored Projects
        • Policies
          • Combating Trafficking in Persons
          • Animal Care and Use
          • Human Research
        • Reports
        • Internships
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
      • Annual Reports
      • Metrics Dashboard
        • Dashboard Home
        • Virtual Smithsonian
        • Public Engagement
        • National Collections
        • Research
        • People & Operations
      • Strategic Plan
    • Newsdesk
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • Photos and Video
      • Media Kits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Visitor Stats
      • Secretary and Admin Bios
      • Filming Requests

Oral history interview with Dera Tompkins

Anacostia Community Museum

Object Details

General
Associated documentation for this interview is available in the Anacostia Community Museum Archives.
Title created by ACMA staff using text written on sound cassette, contents of audio recording, textual transcript, and/or associated archival documentation.
Names
District of Columbia. Police Department
Howard University
Carmichael, Stokely, 1941-1998
Garvey, Marcus, 1887-1940
Haile Selassie I, Emperor of Ethiopia, 1892-1975
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
Marley, Bob
Mutabaruka, 1952-
Tompkins, Dera
X, Malcolm, 1925-1965
Collection Creator
Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum
Place
Boston (Mass.)
Jamaica
Washington (D.C.)
Topic
African Americans
African American women
Caribbeans
Rastafarians
Manners and customs
Rastafari movement
Reggae music
Dancehall (Music)
Dreadlocks
marijuana
Civil rights movements
Racism
Pan-Africanism
Police
Drug control
Interviews
Culture
Jamaicans
Trinidadians
See more items in
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records / Series 3: Oral History Interviews
Sponsor
Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).
Extent
3 Digital files
2 Sound cassettes
Date
1992 December 09
Archival Repository
Anacostia Community Museum Archives
Type
Archival materials
Digital files
Sound cassettes
Citation
Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. exhibition records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Collection Rights
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Note
The total playing time of interview recording is approximately 2 hours.
Scope and Contents
Dera Tompkins spoke about her parents, including their work, role in the home, and political life; her childhood, growing up in Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, with her own personality and vision; her siblings; the disciplinarian in her family; her elementary and high school experience; her religious background; family history, including the origin of her family name, Carrington; racism in Boston, Massachusetts; and growing up in a community of activists and her involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Tompkins explained her progression from civil rights to the Rastafarian movement. She spoke about her educational experience at Howard University, including studying parenting and the roots of Black English, specifics about her professors, her ignorance at the time, and learning about the Trinidadian community. Tompkins also spoke about learning about Jamaica from Stokely Carmichael; visits to Jamaica, including conversations with Mutabaruka and visiting Mutabaruka's house; learning about Rastafarianism from Mutabaruka and how to balance Rastafarianism with her Black US experience; and looking at the bible through African eyes. She explained parts of the Rastafarian doctrine, her family's and friends' reaction to her transition to Rastafarianism, the positives and negatives of Rastafarianism, the impact of Rastafarianism on the hip hop movement, her adjustments to food as a Rasta, and fighting stereotypes about Rastafarians. Tompkins also spoke about the legacy of Marcus Garvey, Bob Marley, socialism, Pan-Africanism, dreadlocks, Haile Selassie, marijuana, reggae music, dancehall music, and her role after the Washington, DC police department executed Operation Caribbean Cruise in 1986. Interview is in English. Digital audio files include loud white noise and static, some sound distortions / voices distorted, and a few instances of background noise. Interviewee can be heard and voices are intelligible for most of the interview.
Collection Restrictions
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1712088000981-1712088003352-1
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa780b01ffb-7d61-4ff1-85fa-333a410a7ffe

Related Content

  • Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records

Footer logo

Link to homepage

Footer navigation

  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Get Involved
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • EEO & Small Business
  • Shop Online
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Social media links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Sign up for Smithsonian e-news

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Back to Top