Saturday, May 26, 2018

REMEMBERING HARRY T AND HARRIET MOORE AND LEGACY

REMEMBERING HAPPY T. AMD HARRIETTE MOORE AFRICAN AMERICAN MARTYRS: NOW FORGOTTEN OF MIMS, FLORIDA "Harry T. Moore, this methodical , soft-spoken man, --a school teacher by profession , fired after twenty years of political activities--had been fighting against racial injustice long before there was a civil rights movement. In December 1951, the inferno that will nearly consume America in the coming decade still lies dormant, and the movement's most famous leaders--and martyrs--have yet to embrace the cause. "At Boston University, a twenty -two year old graduate student in philosophy named Mike King is cultivating the refined style of an intellectual: he smokes a pipe, dresses in tailored suits, and has developed 'the far-off look of a philosopher.' Absorbed in the study of Spinoza, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Mahayana Buddhism, he maintains a steadfast aloofness from racial issues, even in his student papers. His only leadership role among other African American students has been to organize the Dialectical Society, which meets weekly to discuss rarefied issues of philosophy and religion. In a few years , Mike King will be better known by his legal name , Martin. "Just across the river from BU, in the Charlestown State Prison, a former pimp and drug addict known as Detroit Red is serving a ten-year sentence for robbery. While in prison, he has become a voracious reader and a follower of Black Muslim leader Elijah Muhammad. Following his parole in August 1952, he will move back to Detroit and change his name to Malcolm X. "And on this very night , a senior student at Alcorn A&M College is on his honeymoon in Jackson , Mississippi . Next summer, angry over the mistreatment of black sharecroppers, Medgar Evers will join the NAACP for the first time." P.6, BEFORE HIS TIME: THE UNTOLD STORY OF HARRY T. MOORE, AMERICA 'S FIRST CIVIL RIGHTS MARTYR by Ben Green (1999)