'I wanted a Communist movement, but I wanted us to have a chance to organize our people': The diasporic radicalism of Queen Mother Audley Moore and the origins of black power

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Abstract

This article charts the extraordinary life and legacy of 'Queen Mother' Audley Moore (1898-1997). She was one of the most revered figures in twentieth-century black nationalism, Pan-Africanism, and Communism. A life-long Garveyite and a leading personality in the World War II-era Harlem Communist Party, she understood black women across the diaspora as the vanguard in struggles for self-determination. She broke from the Communist Party in 1950, reinventing herself into an ardent black nationalist. Creatively formulating an idiosyncratic politics combining Garveyism, Marxism, Third Worldism, and feminism, she was central in forging 1960s-era Black Power and the modern reparations movement. Recovering her life reveals the underappreciated importance of black women in building radical, diasporic movements, the legacy of Garveyism and Communism in framing Black Power, and the contours in twentieth-century black radicalism, black internationalism, and black women's activism.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)181-195
Number of pages15
JournalAfrican and Black Diaspora
Volume3
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2010

Keywords

  • Black Power
  • Communism
  • Garveyism
  • genocide
  • motherist frame
  • self-determination

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Demography
  • Cultural Studies
  • Anthropology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
  • Sociology and Political Science

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