A Biography of Audley Moore (d. 1997): Mother of Black Nationalism

FAIN: FEL-267541-20

Ashley Dawn Farmer
University of Texas, Austin (Austin, TX 78712-0100)

Research and writing leading to a biography of black nationalist Audley Moore (1890s-1997), whose political life spanned much of the 20th century’s black nationalist movement.

If Rosa Parks was the mother of the civil rights movement, then Audley Moore midwifed modern black nationalism. Indeed, Moore created or was involved in many of the major movement moments and organizations now considered to be central to 20th century black radical organizing from the 1920s to the 1990s. Queen Mother” Audley Moore: Mother of Black Nationalism is the first full length biography of Moore—one of the most influential yet understudied activists and thinkers of the 20th century. The book examines Moore’s life and activism from the 1890s until her death in 1997 and argues that she was an important but overlooked progenitor of 20th century black radical thought whose organizing approaches and ideas became the architecture of modern radical black activism. Using Moore as a thread, the book offers a wide-ranging history of twentieth-century black nationalist movements, moments, and organizations, foregrounding black women’s roles in creating a sustained ideological tradition.

Media Coverage

Whiting Foundation Creative Non-Fiction Award (Media Coverage)
Publication: LitHub
Date: 11/10/2021
Abstract: write up of Author Ashley D. Farmer among those winners of a Whiting Creative Non-Fiction Grant for book Queen Mother Audley Moore: Mother of Black Nationalism
URL: http://https://lithub.com/here-are-the-2021-whiting-creative-nonfiction-grantees

Associated Products

“Audley Moore.” (Article)
Title: “Audley Moore.”
Author: Ashley D. Farmer
Abstract: encyclopedia entry
Year: 2021
Primary URL: http://DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780190280024-0096
Access Model: subscription only
Format: Other
Publisher: Oxford Bibliographies in African American Studies

Writing and Publishing Black Women’s Biography in the Black Lives Matter Era. (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Writing and Publishing Black Women’s Biography in the Black Lives Matter Era.
Author: Ashley D. Farmer
Abstract: Seminar on Writing Black Women's Biography co-created and led by Author and funded by the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University
Date Range: October 2021

“Rebel Archives: The Life and Legacy of Queen Mother Moore.” (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: “Rebel Archives: The Life and Legacy of Queen Mother Moore.”
Abstract: 2021 Annual Bridge Lecture Keynote at Saint Louis University
Author: Ashley D. Farmer
Date: 03/05/2021
Location: St Louis, MO

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