Harry and Harriette Moore were teaching in Florida when they co-founded a chapter of the NAACP. The two fought tirelessly, exposing anti-Black violence from Black-voter intimidation to lynching.
The couple made waves in their community. Anti-Blackness wanted them to drown.
The Moores were fired from their jobs but they kept fighting. Anti-Blackness wouldn’t shut them up.
Mr. Moore became the Executive Secretary for the Florida NAACP. Soon membership grew to 10,000. But that wasn’t all Moore had on the rise.
Under Moore’s leadership over 100,000 Black-voters registered to vote. Then Moore tackled equitable pay, demanding Black teachers receive equal wages.
In 1949, four Black boys were wrongfully convicted for raping a white woman. Moore stood tall and demanded they receive a retrial and that police who caused them harm be tried instead.
Sadly, the Moore’s were murdered by the KKK. But even in death, their legacy lived on.
Moore’s leadership saw that Florida had the highest number of registered Black voters in the South.
Anti-Blackness will always try to stifle us. There are bans happening across the country, especially in Florida, that are actively attempting to kill our liberation efforts.
But like the Moores we won’t back down. We will continue to do the work. We will continue fighting for freedom. We won’t be silenced.