Richard B. Moore

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Richard Benjamin Moore (born August 9, 1893) was a civil rights activist and communist leader. He was born in Barbados, British West Indies to Richard Henry Moore and Josephine Thorne Moore. In Barbados, the Richard Henry and Josephine Moore family was considered middle class in terms of socioeconomic status. Richard Henry Moore was the moneymaker of the family working as a preacher and building contractor in Barbados. Unfortunately, tragedy struck when Richard B. Moore’s mother died when he was only three years of age. Moore’s father was later remarried to Elizabeth Mclean. Soon thereafter, another tragedy struck when Moore’s father passed away in 1902 when young Richard was at the age of nine. With both biological parents dead, Moore was raised by his stepmother Elizabeth Mclean.

Mclean wanted to carry out Richard senior’s wishes of giving young Richard the best education. It is for this reason that Mclean aided young Richard in traveling to the United States. In hopes of furthering his education, Moore migrated to The United States of America and arrived in New York City on July 4, 1909. However, Moore would not become a naturalized citizen until September 11, 1924. Although blacks were free in the United States, they were far from being treated equal to the whites in America. Moore was immediately faced with racial discrimination when it came to employment and educational opportunities among other things. Although trained in Barbados to do clerical work, Moore was forced to turn to the more unfavorable jobs like an elevator operator and work in a silk manufacturing firm.

Due to the struggles that Moore encountered and observed, he became a strong vocalist for the rights of Afro-Americans. In 1919 Moore joined the African Blood Brotherhood (ABB) which was an organization formed to defend blacks from race riots and lynching. Moore, along with other black advocates, joined the Communist Party in the early 1920s. Moore joined the Communist Party, in part, because at the time the Communist party was transforming itself into a force to fight against segregation. In 1935, Moore became the organizer for the International Labor Defense in the New England Territory. He used his position in this organization to speak on behalf the Scottsboro Boys, which was a case were nine young black males were accused of brutally raping two young white girls. In 1942, Moore was expelled from the communist party because he was accused of being a Black Nationalist and keeping black issues on the front burner.

Although expelled from the Communist Party, Moore continued his efforts for equal rights in America. He also played a leading role in Caribbean advocacy groups. Moore, following the lead of his friend Hubert Harrison, was also a bibliophile collecting over 15000 books and pamphlets on the black experiences worldwide. This collection of books is currently housed in a library that Moore developed in Barbados. Moore also ran the Frederick Douglass Book Center in Harlem. Along with having a love of books, Moore published a few himself including The Name Negro, Its Origin and Evil Use (1960) and Cariba, Cannibals and Human Relations (1972). He also had essays and articles published in various magazines and journals including the Negro Champion, Daily Worker, and Freedomways. Richard Benjamin Moore died in his hometown of Barbados in 1978 at the age of 85.