Dr. Olga Osby was presented with the L.C. Dorsey award by the Mary S. Nelums Foundation.
The award is named in the honor of Dr. L.C. Dorsey as a public act of gratitude for someone who has dedicated her life to the service of others through social activism.
Presenters said social activism is the compelling force that drives progressive change in thoughts, beliefs and attitudes based on what is viewed as fair and right for all. Lifelong social activists do not ask for the spotlight or awards for themselves, but they insist on correcting the social ills that plague our communities.
Dr. Dorsey’s life has been a working example and shows an unmistakable understanding of Frederick Douglas’ reminder in 1857 that “Power concedes nothing without demand, it never has and it never will.” As with all change agents seeking to alter the status quo, the social activists often pay a tremendous price in their personal lives, and it has been no different with Dr. Dorsey. Yet through it all, she continues the struggle and remains true to her philosophy, beliefs, and commitment to bring about social change benefitting all of society.
L.C. Dorsey was born in the Mississippi Delta and received her early education in a series of one-room schools on various Delta plantations. Her interest in the human condition began in those humble schools under the tutelage of strong Black women and loving parents who taught her to value learning as the ticket to a better life. As a high school dropout, she went back to school at age 31 to get a GED and to get her life back on track.
Today, she holds a Doctorate of Social Work from the State University of New York (Stony Brook, N.Y.). In addition, she has a certification in Health Systems Management from the School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD), and has studied at Workers’ College (Tel Aviv, Israel) and in the Peoples Republic of China as part of private
Study Tours in 1976 and 1978. She has also traveled to Russia, India, Kazakstan with MCID and SRBWI.
The work experiences of L.C. Dorsey include working as a laborer on several cotton plantations in the Mississippi Delta; as an organizer in the local community during the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties; a teacher in Operation Head Start I Bolivar County; an outreach worker and later, as director of the 427-acre North Bol- ivar Farm Cooperative, of Tuft’s Delta Health Center (Mound Bayou, MS); director of social services, Wash- ington County Opportunities (Head Start); director of administration, Mississippi Prisoner’s Defense Commit- tee; associate director, Southern Coalition on Jails and Prison (Jackson, MS); program director, Lutheran So- cial Services (Washington, D.C.); counselor in a group home for de-institutionalized mentally retarded women (Washington, D.C.); assistant to the Chief Health Officer (Memphis, TN); assistant research professor, School of Pharmacy, University of Mississippi (Goodman, MS); executive director, Delta Health Center, Inc. (Mound Bayou); assistant professor, School of Social Work JSU ; and executive director, Area Health Education Centers and Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, The University of Mississippi Medical Center (Jackson, MS). She’s also served as assistant director and professor, Delta Research & Cultural Institute, Mississippi Valley State University (Itta Bena, MS), and as a professor in the Department of Social Work at MS Valley State University.
A charter member of the Mississippi Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers, Dorsey is also a member of the National Association of Social Workers, the Mississippi Conference on Social Welfare, the Mississippi Association of Public Health, the American Public Health Association, the advisory committee of the W.K. Kellogg Fellowship Program in Health Policy Research (Washington, D.C.), Southern Black Women for Economic and Social Justice, Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Mississippi Families for Kids (Jackson, MS), and several other state and local organizations whose missions include changing the environment and lives of people who are affected by negative social conditions, such as poverty, inadequate education, and/or racism.
L.C. Dorsey has written extensively for newspapers, magazines, journals, and for conference presentations on the human conditions of family, poverty, healthcare and prison reform, the abolition of the death penalty, women’s equity issues, risk factors which threaten the survival of Black males, and other quality of life issues. She also writes poetry and essays. L.C. Dorsey is the widow of Richard Young, JD, MSW, and is the mother of six adult children seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild with whom she enjoys spending time. After retiring in 2006, she spends time gardening, writing, speaking and motivating others.
