Biography
Ralph Moore (1940-2019) was an artist, civil rights activist, and editor of the Black United Front, a Black power newsletter of the 60s and early 70s. Through his affiliations with the local Black Panther Party and his radical writings in the newsletter, he fought racial injustice and systemic racism. He is best known for his critiques of segregated housing in the 1970s.[1]
Moore’s grandfather was born into slavery in 1854. As a descendent of slaves, and born and raised in a segregated Chattanooga, Tennessee, Moore was surrounded by all the repressive conditions of the segregated South, i.e., Jim Crow laws, lynchings, and segregated signs and symbols, among others.[2] At an early age, Moore’s family taught him to resist the image of a white racist society forced on Blacks, a spirit that guided Moore during his lifetime. During the early stages of the Civil Rights Movement sit-ins, Moore attended Chattanooga’s Howard High School and graduated in 1958. He went on to study at the historically Black college of Wilberforce in Ohio, and then completed a tour in Vietnam in 1966.[3]
Upon his return from Vietnam, Moore read the autobiography of Malcolm X. This inspired him to aggressively participate in the Civil Rights Movement. He joined the Black Knights, a local chapter of the Black Panther Party, and launched the Black Fist newsletter, which later became The Black United Front. Moore took on local issues impacting the Black community. He critiqued the police for harming peaceful protestors and described how local school officials and white students created unequal conditions for Black students to learn. His most lasting and significant accomplishment, however, was successfully fighting against local real estate companies advertising segregated housing in the 1970s.[4]
Moore passed away at his home on March 9, 2019 in Chattanooga, Tennessee at the age of 78.
Footnotes:
[1] Turner, Justin. “Chattanooga Racial Justice Biographies, Ralph Moore.” 2021, UTC Scholar, Department of History at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Accessed March 5, 2022. https://scholar.utc.edu/racial-justice-biographies/8
[2] The Village Report blog. “Special Edition Part I: Power To The People – An interview with Chattanooga’s Original Black Panther Party Coordinator Ralph Moore.” February 3, 2013. Accessed on March 5, 2022. http://villagereport.blogspot.com/2013/02/special-edition-part-I-power-to-people.html
[3] Ibid.
[4] Turner, Justin. “Chattanooga Racial Justice Biographies, Ralph Moore.” 2021, UTC Scholar, Department of History at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Accessed March 5, 2022. https://scholar.utc.edu/racial-justice-biographies/8
This artist's biography was written by Phyllis Geraghty, a writer with professional experience in the public relations, education, health, and non-profit sectors.
Illustrations by Ralph Moore
Additional Resources
Bibliography
“Fascist Invasion of Chattanooga Black Community.” The Black Panther, May 29, 1971.
“The Black Panther Party Announces…The Opening of the Bobby Seale People’s Free Health Clinic.” The Black Panther, May 15, 1971.
Moore, Ralph. The Black United Front, April 25, 1970.
Moore, Ralph. The Black United Front, May 9, 1970.
