Doris Funnye Innis

By the 2000s Doris had semi-retired from editing but was a frequent contributing writer to South Carolina's Georgetown Times. She had since moved back to South Carolina to be closer to her mother.

In 1981 Doris Innis was a contributor to The New York Times, writing an article about the tradition of the church dinner with African-American churches in Harlem.

Doris Innis used the 1980s to compose herself and concentrate on raising her only child, Kimathi. She found work as a teacher in the New York public education system for several years before landing work with Park Row Publishing as an editor in medical publishing.

In 1976, Innis edited the book, Profiles in Black, a compilation book of 100 biographical sketches of "Living Black Unsung Heroes". The book featured African Americans of noteworthy accomplishments in arts, politics, engineering, media and music. Opera singer Claudia Lindsey (a close friend of Innis) was featured in the book.

Innis headed the CORE delegation to Mexico City for the first World Conference on Women in 1975 (dubbed International Women's Year by the United Nations).

Innis accompanied her husband Roy on many official CORE delegations, notably, delegations to Africa in 1971 and 1973 where she met with leaders such as Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania. In 1971 she led the Women in the Black Society Workshop which covered topics such as the treatment of Black women by Black men, women's liberation, birth control, and inter-racial relationships. In attendance were Shirley Chisholm and Nina Simone who received lifetime CORE memberships at the event.

In the 1970s Innis became the editor of CORE Magazine. The in-house published magazine focused on Black empowerment, featuring articles on international and national politics, education, economics, arts, culture, literature, sports and media. Innis often interviewed noteworthy African American females of the time, such as Eleanor Holmes Norton and Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm. On the occasion of interviewing Chisolm, Innis used the pen name Penda Saxby.

By the late 1970s a strained relationship with Roy Innis made it increasingly difficult for Doris to actively work within the offices of the Congress of Racial Equality. By 1980, she began to distance herself from CORE. However, she continued to assist Roy in his urban education programs, such as the CORE Community School in the Bronx, New York as a senior administrator at the school.

While she was at CORE, Innis was a contributing writer to Life magazine, writing a review of the 1968 CBS News series, Of Black America.

By 1966 Doris Innis was the editor of the CORE publication Rights and Reviews, which featured writings from Julian Bond, Roy Innis and then national chairman Floyd McKissick. The magazine often featured artwork from artists such as Osmond Tyner and contributions from satirist-cartoonist Jules Feiffer.

Doris Funnye followed her brother Clarence to the Congress of Racial Equality as a volunteer and organizer for the civil rights organization. Not long after entering CORE she met a young chemist named Roy Innis, and the two were married in 1965. Roy Innis often stated anecdotally, "Doris was always busy with this place called CORE. So I followed her there. They tried to kick me out saying meetings were for CORE staff members only. So, I became a staff member."

Doris Valdena Funnye Innis (February 26, 1933 – December 8, 2015) was an American writer, editor and educator, significantly in the area of civil rights. She was the editor of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) publications Rights and Reviews and CORE Magazine in the early 1970s and again in the 1980s.

Doris Valdena Funnye was born on February 26, 1933, in Georgetown, South Carolina, the daughter of Susan (née Green) and John A. Funnye, a minister. Both parents were descendants of the Gullah people of South Carolina. She was raised in a Southern Baptist family and was the only sister of three brothers. One of her brothers, Clarence Delmonte Funnye, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War, would later become the Chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality from 1964 to 1965.