[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 80 (Tuesday, June 10, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1156]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                 DEATH OF AUDLEY ``QUEEN MOTHER'' MOORE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 10, 1997

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay respect and tribute to Audley 
Moore, affectionately known as Queen Mother Moore, who died in a 
Brooklyn nursing home on May 2 at the age of 98. She was given the 
honorary title of ``Queen Mother'' by an Ashanti tribe in Ghana.
  Mother Moore lived a long and active life, dedicated to public 
service and improvement of the lives of African-Americans. Born on July 
28, 1898 in New Iberia, LA, to second generation freed blacks, she 
became a revered public figure in Harlem, best known as an advocate for 
Africa and African-Americans. Moore's ideas and teachings of Pan-
African Nationalism was influenced by great political personalities 
such as W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. As a civil rights activist, 
Mother Moore worked on the defense of the Scottsboro boys. 
Internationally, she spoke on her disapproval of the Italo-Ethiopian 
war.
  ``I am not a part-time struggler,'' she once said. ``I'm in the 
movement for the liberation of African people full-time, 7 days a week, 
24 hours per day, for life.''
  Her career was influenced by the violence and hatred she endured as a 
young child and young woman. While in the fourth grade, Moore's parents 
died and thus ended her formal education. During World War I while in 
Alabama, Moore was a volunteer nurse who involved herself in the first 
of her movements for the equality of blacks by organizing support 
services for black soldiers that were denied by the Red Cross.
  Mother Moore was drawn to the idea of black nationalism and economic 
independence by the oratory of Marcus Garvey, founder of the Harlem-
based Universal Negro Improvement Association. She became an active 
member of the organization, and founded the Harriet Tubman Association 
to better the conditions of black women. Through this organization, 
Moore advocated issues such as higher wages, better education, and the 
lowering of food prices to help improve the conditions of the poor. 
Following her brief membership in the Communist party--at the time, the 
only organization that accepted her radical ideas--she focused her 
attention on seeking economic reparations for descendants of the 
victims of slavery, cultural identity, and education. She launched a 
national campaign in support of economic reparations. Moore believed 
that economic reparations were the first constructive step in black 
nationalists ideology.
  As an orator, her rhetoric on this issue was powerful--

       Ever since 1950, I've been on the trail fighting for 
     reparations. They owe us more than they could ever pay. They 
     stole our language; they stole us from our mothers and 
     fathers and took our names from us. They worked us free of 
     charge 18 hours a day, 7 days a week, under the lash for 
     centuries. We lost over 100 million lives in the traffic of 
     slavery.


  In 1962, Mother Moore met with President John F. Kennedy, the United 
Nations, and the Congressional Black Caucus about the issue of economic 
reparations. She later organized and directed the Reparations Committee 
of Descendants of United States Slaves.
  One of her last public appearances was at the Million Man March in 
Washington, DC. Although weak, her poignant speech was delivered by an 
associate. Her presence was strongly felt and appreciated.
  Queen Mother Moore's contributions have had a substantial impact on 
the lives of Africans and African-Americans. She has served as an 
inspiration to many and will be greatly missed. I send my deepest 
condolences to her son, Thomas, grandchildren, and great-grandchild.

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