Post on 11-Feb-2018
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
1/14
Richard B. Moore, an African Blood
Brother on Scottsboro
Khary PestainaFlorida International University
Teaching For American History
The conclusion seems inescapable that so long as
racist oppression persists, so long will the more
militant Afro-Americans turn to radical parties
seeking a solution to the oppressive conditions to
which they are subjected
Richard B. Moore, Afro-Americans and Radical
Politics
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
2/14
Thesis
My research examines Richard B. Moores role in the Communist partys defense of theScottsboro Boys. It demonstrates Moores commitment to African Blood Brotherhood(ABB)ideals, critical to his participation and activism during the trial, rather than a Communistidealism more regularly attributed to him and the case.
The Scottsboro trial is usually presented as the Communist Party USAs cause clbreduringthe 30s, but my presentation shows an ABB directive and ambition which expressed an acuteenergy, mobilized to produce the release of the 9 defendants.
The scope of my research begins pre-1920s, exploring Moores developing ideas about socialism,his clandestine participation in the African Blood Brotherhood, and then his vital role in theabsorption of that group into the Communist Party USA. It highlights Moores integral roleduring the Scottsboro trial and political organizing in Harlem around the case.
Scope
Richard B. Moore, reportedly an early Americancommunist who worked closely on the Scottsborotrial, is instead a prominent member of the AfricanBlood Brotherhood, an indigenous and vitalHarlem organization whose critical influence ismistakenly overlooked.
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
3/14
INTRODUCTION
Richard B. Moores core ideals:
Militancy
Progressive Nationalism
Pan-Africanism
African Blood Brotherhood as an
independent, influential Black Radical
Organization:
Agent vehicle of African Revolution
Critical analyses of Marxian socialism
Moores common legacy:
Moores critics- Harold Cruse, W.E.B
Du Bois, John Pepper, Marcus Garvey
Moores supporters- John Henrik
Clarke, Cyril Briggs, W.A. Domingo,
Claude McKay, Arturo Schomburg
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
4/14
MOORESAMERICANIZATION
Immigrant Moores July 4th Arrival:
West Indian literacy vs. Black/White
American literacy
West Indian skills vs. Black/White
American literacy
Moores First Experiences with
Racism-
Struggles in finding employment
equitable to education level
Loss of job
Moores Loss of religious belief-
YMCA rebuke
Bias and discrimination within the
Church
OO S C O
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
5/14
MOORES RADICALIZATIONNADIR: Lynchings
Great Migration
Great Retreat
Jim Crow
Hubert H. Harrisons Critical Influence: The Black Socrates according John G. Jackson
Rogers, J.A. Worlds Great Men of Color Vol.2.
Harrison, Hubert H. The Negro and the Nation.
Harrison, Hubert H. When Africa Awakes.
Perry, Jeffrey B.Hubert Harrison: the Voice of Harlem Radicalism,
1883-1918.Harlem Soapbox tradition:
Moore, Richard B. Africa Conscious Harlem, fromFreedomways,
Summer 1963
Moore, Richard B. Afro-Americans and Radical Politics, from WCBS
TV broadcast, Black Heritage Series, March 19, 1969. Manuscript
Moore, Richard B. The Critics and Opponents of Marcus Garvey in
Marcus Garvey and the Vision of Africa: Edited, and with anIntroduction and commentaries, by John Henrik Clarke With the
assistance of Amy Jacques Garvey. Black Classic Press (Baltimore,
2011)
Moore & ABBs Increasing Militancy:
ABB goes public
ABB recruits an army The Crusader
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
6/14
COMMUNIST ALLURE
Successful Bolshevik Russian Revolution
Revolutionary success by Russian Bolsheviks
Lenins theses on the Colonial Question
African Blood Brotherhood(ABB) in Russia
1922
Critical Influence on development of official
Comintern policy towards African Americans
Claude McKays key Role in creating allianceSynthesis of ABB goals
Goals and Aims of the ABB
ABB goes public to recruit
ABB vs. UNIA on the streets of Harlem
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
7/14
MOORE, COMMUNIST
Rationalization for Joining Communist Party
Comintern United Front policy
Militant Potential
Internationalist Agenda of ABB
Communists pass Moores Test
League Against Imperialism
Rejection at Du Bois 4th Pan African Congress
Harlem Tenants League adopted as model forrecruiting African Americans into Communist Party
Yokinen Trial where American communists rejectWhite Chauvinism
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
8/14
STRUGGLE WITHIN 1928 Self-Determination Thesis- Pros & Cons Harry Haywood, ABB member & WW Iveteran educated in Moscow
Nation within a Nation thesis
Moore as Black Communist Leader American Negro Labor Congress
League of Struggle for Negro Rights
National Negro Congress
Clandestine ABB (Underground)
International Labor Defense
Struggle against White Chauvinism
John Pepper, comunist theorist, attacksMoores communist credentials
Consistent chauvinism & colorism within party
Bukharins Speech, Daily Worker, Sept.51928,
Moore responds to Peppers criticism
Yokinen Trial
Significance of CPUSA commitment to rooting
out Chauvinism
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
9/14
AFRICAN BLOOD BROTHER ON SCOTTSBOROBackground of Scottsboro Case-
9 Negro youths arrested for fight
2 White women accuse boys of rape
Boys, ages 13 to 20, all given death penalty
Significance of International Labor Defense
(ILD)-
Commitment to defending radicals in USA
Experience on Mooney, Sacco-Vanzetti
cases
William Pattersons significance
Annual Analysis of Moores Role onScottsboro-
Early Years
Mid Thirties
Late thirties/early forties
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
10/14
MOORE vs. FORD,DIRECTION of thePARTYCommunists consolidate Scottsboro gains-
African Americans recruited into Communist
Party
Communist view Scottsboro as bulwark for
work in American south
NAACP Threat
NAACP attempts to hijack case from ILD
Walter White raises money on behalf of
Boys but refuses to give to communists
Samuel Leibowitzs anti-communist views
Minimization of Moore/Arrival of James Ford-
James Ford installs doctrinaire Communism on
independent minded Harlem base
Moore & Briggs question Fords leadership &
agenda
Moore & Briggs relegated and demoted
Moore Soldiers On-
Leads Scottsboro Mothers & Ruby Bates to
White House to meet with President Roosevelt
4 Cross-country tours in promotion of
Scottsboro Boys case
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
11/14
ConclusionShift in Communist Policies-
Critical shifts within Cominternpolicy affected Moores influencewithin the party
Browders negative influence
Moore back in the mix-
Organizes movement forCaribbean Independence
Recovers and publicizes FrederickDouglasss Autobiography after40 years of censorship
Establishes Book Store in Harlem
Moore kicked out-
Kicked out of party for being toonationalist
Refuses re-entry to party
Re-establishes an independent,autonomous black radical critique
in the US
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
12/14
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
13/14
7/23/2019 Richard B. Moore, an African Blood Brother on Scottsboro Presentation (public)
14/14
Archives Richard B. Moore Papers, from the Schomburg Collection, New York
Public Library
International Labor Defense Record Group, from the SchomburgCollection, New York Public Library
Crusader News Service, from the Schomburg Collection, New York
Public Library
Marxists Internet Archive, www.marxists.org
In Motion: African American Migration Experience, online exhibit of
the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York
Public Library.
http://www.inmotionaame.org/migrations/topic.cfm?migration=8&topi
c=1 NAACP archive- A Century in the Fight for Freedom, 1909-2009 in
Library of Congress,
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/naacp/earlyyears/ExhibitObjects/RedSu
mmer.aspx