Matriarch of the Captive African Nation: Recollections of Queen Mother Moore

Abstract

As a college freshman, I attended a 1973 meeting of the Muhammad Ahmad (a.k.a. Max Stanford) Defense Committee (MADC). Police had captured Ahmad, a leader of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) and a principal target of the Counter INTELligence PROgram (COINTELPRO). I was asked at the meeting, “You ever heard of Queen Mother Moore?” After receiving a brief explanation, I was assigned to escort Queen Mother to a speaking engagement. The proceeds of her California talks went to the MADC. As her driver and security, I accompanied Queen Mother on several speaking engagements in the 1970s. I was later recruited into RAM’s successor organization, the African Peoples Party (APP). Queen Mother was mentor to the APP. As the principal female elder in APP, she was commonly referred to as “Mother.” Queen Mother’s speech that 1973 winter day expressed themes that recurred throughout her addresses. I will briefly share some core themes that appeared in Queen Mother’s oratory, and reconstruct some of my experiences with her.