Derek Burrows
Storyteller/Musician/Educator
As a storyteller, Derek specializes in Afro-Caribbean and African Diaspora tales; he has been “telling” for over three decades nationally and internationally.
Derek’s work
As a modern day Griot, Derek’s performances are varied, including songs, folktales, myths and legends of Africa, the Caribbean and America and other lands.
Get ready to book your performance 2023/24
Derek is currently scheduling school performances for Fall 2023 early 2024. Derek travels across the country and is currently booking for Black History Month for February of 2024.
Derek’s singular style is filled with textures and colors, whether telling stories, playing music, leading workshops or presenting original works. Weaving together flights of the imagination with tones and rhythms, his dynamic presentations re-affirm the power of words and the commonly loved language of music. A true native of the Bahamas, he carries on the tradition of entertaining and educating wherever he goes and with whomever he meets. As a professional musician his performances include an array of instruments and sounds.
Educator/storyteller
Derek presents workshops for students, educators and storytellers
Derek has appeared as a keynote speaker and workshop leader across many disciplines including the Medical field, humanities and corporate setting, using stories to look at diversity, healing, cross-cultural understanding and conflict resolution.
At Brandeis University, he used the power of storytelling with Israeli and Palestinian students to overcome prejudice by helping them identify their common humanity.
THE FILM:
“Before the Trees Was Strange”,
a powerful documentary about race, love, forgiveness and a family mystery
Before the Trees Was Strange: Award winning documentary feature film
Derek’s film is available for public screenings. The film has proven to be a catylist for the important discussion on Race. The ability to talk about race comes before any policy question, because first we must be able to hear each other, and ourselves, before we can resolve the questions facing us. “Before the Trees Was Strange” will endeavor to seed the ground for that dialogue. Some of the places that has screened the film include: Suffolk University, Boston. Boston College, MA. Taylor’s University, Malaysia. Xavier University, Cincinnati. Online screenings and workshops available.
Congratulations! It’s a beautiful and important film, full of heart and soul and intelligence.
This is a stunning piece of work.
“The footage is powerful and the narrative is meaningful. As an anthropologist, I would happily show this film in my courses about race and the Caribbean.”
“Derek Burrows’ autobiographical documentary, “Before the Trees Was Strange” is both a courageous probe of racism where it is unexpected and a sweet, affecting homage to the filmmaker’s remarkable Bahamian family.”
Gerald Peary, film critic, The Arts Fuse