In Memory of Extraordinary Freedom Fighter David William Moore

Date: November 9, 2009

Comrade Dave Moore

In Memory of Extraordinary Freedom Fighter David William Moore

Whereas, David W. Moore, Dave , was a fighter for freedom, equality, peace, human rights and economic justice for more than four score years; and

Whereas, Citizen Moore from his youth in South Carolina, Ohio and Detroit and, throughout his 97 years, was an icon of the working class rank and file, a leader of the laboring masses who create all the wealth of society, a champion of revolutionary struggle; and

Whereas, In the Depression of the 1930’s , Mr. Moore was active in the Unemployed Councils, the Ford Hunger March, worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps, ; and

Whereas, Brother Dave Moore was a leader in securing representation rights for the UAW-CIO at Ford Motor Company, where Black and White unity was key; Mr. Moore is credited with five other workers who pulled one of a series of switches in the Axle Plant on April 2, 1941, triggering the strike that ended in Ford signing a contract with UAW-CIO on June 30, 1941; and

Whereas, Dave Moore advanced organizing efforts at Ford Motor company with the Elder Charles Diggs, Reverend Charles Hill, Pastor of Hartford Avenue Baptist Church, and President of the Detroit NAACP among others and he convinced the leadership of the CIO to bring Paul Robeson to Detroit to speak before Ford workers , which he did three times, including on May 19,1941 when Robeson appeared before upwards of 100,000 workers and union supporters in Cadillac Square on the eve of that signal contract victory at Ford; In later years, Dave Moore , with the Honorable Coleman A. Young organized security details for Paul Robeson’s visits to Detroit, and said meetings also included the Honorable Erma L. Henderson; and

Whereas, Brother Moore , in 1941, was elected a District Committeeman in the old Gear and Axle Plant of Ford Rouge by a workforce of 5,600 that was overwhelmingly white in its majority; he was reelected for twelve successive years and for many years was elected to an array of offices in UAW Local 600; he served as a member of the Bargaining Committee and Vice-President of the Gear and Axle Plant; he also served as Bargaining Committeeman and Vice-President of the Dearborn Engine Plant of Local 600 and

Whereas, Dave Moore served as Vice-President of the Detroit Chapter of the National Negro Labor Council, along with the Honorable Coleman A. Young as National Secretary; the National Negro Labor Council , (NNLC), was an organization dedicated to winning first class citizenship for every Black man, woman and child in America in unity with that democratic minded workers of all backgrounds who recognized in the struggle for African American rights prerequisites of their own aspirations for a full life;

Whereas, Brother Moore endured the undemocratic onslaught of McCarthyism and the House UnAmerican Activities Committee; he was targeted with four others at Local 600; barred from running for union office in the very union where he had played such an important role to establish; the National Negro Labor Council was a target of the anti-Red , anti-Communist false accusations ; and

Whereas, After 12 years Brother Moore and his four fellow Local 600 officers were reinstated and overwhelmingly reelected. Later he and the Black Caucus at Local 600 decided that he should accept a position as an International representative for the UAW in the grievance procedure; seasoned from the trials and tribulations of the McCarthy Era, armed with his bachelor’s degree in the School of Hard Knocks and his advanced degree from the University Hastings Street, having studied the public use of the courts with Peoples’ lawyers Maurice Sugar, the Honorable George Crockett, Lebron Simmons, Ernie Goodman and the Honorable Claudia Morcom, he was An extraordinary and exceptionally astute advocate, and highly skilled in negotiating fourth-stage grievances until his retirement in 1979. He was awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Detroit City Council and the National Lawyers Guild and

Whereas, In 1979, Dave Moore helped lead the victorious campaign of Judge George W. Crockett for Congress in Detroit’ s 13th District, and served as Director of Congressman Crockett’s Detroit office and ; In 1990 Mayor Coleman A. Young appointed Mr. Moore as the Director of the Senior Citizen Department of the City of Detroit; he was a friend of the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. and of Congressman John Conyers, Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus

THEREFORE BE IT Resolved, That the Detroit City Council salute and honor the Great Dave Moore , and deeply mourn his passing. We will as Mr. Moore always said “Carry On “ the struggle -