Queen Mother Moore

MONTAGE: Queen Mother Moore Legacy Symposium and Celebration

The Iberia African American Historical Society (IAAHS) was recently awarded a Rebirth Grant from the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities to host the Queen Mother Moore Legacy Symposium and Celebration to honor Audley Moore (Queen Mother Moore) life on Wednesday, July 27, 2022.  The date is her 124th birthday. This was the first time that a commemoration program has done in her honor where she was born in New Iberia, LA.

Audley Moore, known as Queen Mother Moore, was a pan-Africanist, civil rights activist, theorist, African liberation leader, and educator born in New Iberia, LA on July 27, 1898. She is considered a mother of the Pan-African Liberation Movement and a founder of the reparation movement. In addition, her role signifies the importance of black women in nation-building initiatives. She founded multiple organizations like the Universal Association of Ethiopian Women, which shared principles of Garveyism and Pan-Africanism. Moore advocated against lynching, a common vigilante tool used to suppress Africans Americans’ economic growth and citizenship, equal housing, Africa’s decolonialization, and better education initiatives for black children. She was an advocate for reparations that encouraged African Americans to receive compensation from the United States for years of violence and discrimination they experienced leading to the H.R. 40 Bill pushed by organizations like National African American Reparations Commission.  She was a founder of the Committee for Reparations for Descendants of U.S., a founder of the African American Cultural Foundation, president of the federation of African People, Slaves, a founder of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church of North and South America, founder of the Harriet Tubman Association, a founder of the Republic of New Afrika, and a life-time member of the National Council of Negro Women appointed by Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune. Queen Mother Moore is celebrated globally with honors from Ghana and humanitarian friendships with Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela. There was even a school named after her in London.

Original Oil Painting by local artist Antonio Loston

The all-day four part celebration featured a key event was introduced for Dr. Phebe Hayes, the IAAHS president, by Tiffany Caesar, Ph.D. This symposium was a live-streamed panel discussion featuring leading scholars on Queen Mother Moore, Reparations, and Preservation initiatives of African Americans:

  • Ashley Farmer, Ph.D., Professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department at University of Texas Austin – she is currently finishing a biography on Queen Mother Moore and has written extensively about her life.
  • Akinyele Umoja, Ph.D., Professor of African American Studies at Georgia State University – he has not only written about Queen Mother Moore and the Reparation Movement, but also worked closely with her as her mentee.
  • Cassie S. Turnipseed, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Jackson State University -she is a leading scholar in African American public history, the preservation of civil rights activists in the South, and radical pan-African initiatives.

Tiffany Caesar, Ph.D., Margaret Walker Center Mellon Scholar and the Queen Mother Moore Legacy Symposium and Celebration project director, performed her original children’s story about Queen Mother Moore at the Cyr Gates Recreational Center – City Park.

Mr. Carl Cooper, market manager and President of the Envision Da Berry not-for-profit, led a discussion on black business development at Da Berry Fresh Market.

Mr. John Reedom, local musician, professor and historian of New Iberia, led the festive, music-based closing ceremony at The Sliman Theatre for the Performing Arts.

In addition to educating the community about Queen Mother Moore through the symposium, the IAAHS has created a Queen Mother Moore public digital archive on the IAAHS website.

We have secured support from local and international organizations. Also, more organizations continue to show interest in participation. Affiliates Supporting Organizations as of now include the Nelson Mandela Museum, Margaret Walker Center, Ernest Gaines Center, Shadows-on-the-Teche and Envision Da Berry.

The next step in the Audley Queen Mother Moore education initiative will be the installation of a historical marker in New Iberia (Fall 2022), highlighting the prominence of her historical contribution not only to Louisiana, but the world.

Content source – Queen Mother Moore: First Lady of Reparations – Africology: The Journal of Pan-African Studies
Funding for 2021 Rebirth grants has been administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) and provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the NEH Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) initiative. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Please contact Dr. Tiffany Caesar at tiffany.d.caesar@jsums.edu for more information.