About MMI
Mary Moore Institute for Diversity, Humanity & Societal Transformation
exists for one purpose -- to help us transform ourselves into a "For All" America.
We're committed to consciousness-raising about the unprecedented ways our nation is changing, combatting injustice in all its forms, and helping us transform ourselves into a society marked by Beloved Community, zero poverty, and true democracy - one that works for all of us.
Everything from our ethos to our approach is grounded in our belief in our inescapable network of mutuality, and in the reality of our single garment of destiny. Not only does each of us shape the fate of all of us; but ultimately, only a society built for all of us will work for any of us.
Right now, we're a nation at a crossroads. Old ways of doing things that benefit just some of us are simply no longer possible. Not in a post-majority society. Not in a true democracy. And not in a nation with a future. This means that each of us has work in front of us, our own line in the human story to write. Taking up this charge is the only way a government of the people, by the people, for the people works. MMI exists to help us make this, an enduring future, our reality.
Everything from our ethos to our approach is grounded in our belief in our inescapable network of mutuality, and in the reality of our single garment of destiny. Not only does each of us shape the fate of all of us; but ultimately, only a society built for all of us will work for any of us.
Right now, we're a nation at a crossroads. Old ways of doing things that benefit just some of us are simply no longer possible. Not in a post-majority society. Not in a true democracy. And not in a nation with a future. This means that each of us has work in front of us, our own line in the human story to write. Taking up this charge is the only way a government of the people, by the people, for the people works. MMI exists to help us make this, an enduring future, our reality.
We believe that
inalienable rights are for all,
everyone has a line in the human story that only they can write,
each of us deserves to lead our best lives and be our most authentic selves,
only a society that works for all of us will work for any of us, and that
only by enlarging the tent -- by allowing everyone to participate in the forming of "a more perfect union" -- do we become "a nation that can endure".
Letter From MMI Founder
Rod Moore
For me, this work is important for all manner of reasons, but perhaps most significantly, because of the role social impairment has played in my family’s lives over generations spanning back to my great-grandparents, who were sharecroppers, and the shortened life expectancy among my relatives; most of whom died of conditions caused by poverty itself, or who were worn down by the sheer effort to simply stay alive. This was the fate of three of my four younger sisters who are no longer with us. But also for me, it’s how the world itself was robbed of all they had to offer. I feel them with me in every facet of this work.
Birmingham, 1963: Three of my grandparents' children - my mother, Bernice (13) my uncle Willie James (15), and my aunt Pat (11) - though not pictured here, were all in this line, along with over 1,000 other kids who participated in the Children's Crusade. The campaign broke the back of the segregationism in Birmingham -- worst of the worst.
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Powerful photo of a strong, beautiful young woman, unbowed and unbroken, with "Damn the Defiant" advertised on the marquee of the historic Carver Theatre (named after George Washington Carver, segregated Birmingham's "colored" theater) in the background. I remember my uncles walking from our house to the Carver to watch films on a Saturday night.
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"In the entire country," Martin said in his autobiography, "There was no place to compare with Birmingham."
Imagine if George Washington Carver, born into slavery, and whose work was instrumental to reversing the effects of the Dust Bowl, the greatest environmental disaster in US history, had never became a scientist.
Second, I think of all the people of varying ancestries, ethnicities, faiths and identities, who, even in that immensely troubled southern town of my youth, met me, over and again with unfathomable kindness. I’ve tried to keep their stories alive in my writings, but that’s not enough. Because, sociologically, where Birmingham was then, its transition to a minority-majority city, is where the nation is now, and we need the examples so many Birminghamians set to show the rest of us the way forward.
Third, I think of the many people across the nation, I’m blessed to have known, and who, in millions of small ways, left both my life and the world itself better than they found it. This work is about them and so many others before them who, even if we don’t remember their names, shaped who we’ve become and live on in our constant becoming. This is my way of honoring them.
And I think of all those whose value we’ve discounted and all the wonderful gifts they could have bequeathed the world had they been able. I’m reminded of that story about the scientist who died and went to heaven, where he asked Saint Peter, “Who was the greatest scientist to ever live?” Saint Peter pointed to a man on a park bench and said, “There he is.”
“Pardon me, Saint Peter,” the man replied. “But I believe you’re mistaken.” “I knew that man back on earth, and while he was nice enough, he never even graduated high school, nor was he ever a scientist.” “You’re right,” said Saint Peter, “But if he had been a scientist, he would have been the greatest who had ever lived.” I want my gift to coming generations to be a society where they’re treated better, one where everyone can thrive. And by becoming that kind of society, we all benefit from the gifts they give to us.
But that’s only part of it; there’s also what’s happening with us. We Americans are a nation in flux, undergoing what’s arguably the greatest sociological shift in U.S. history; one where, in every way we currently measure, we’ll soon be a post-majority nation. And in such a nation, only actions resulting in a society that works for all of us will make survival possible for any of us. On the back cover of This Land Is Your Land, I describe our situation this way:
Right now, the US is in the midst of an unprecedented sociological shift; one that began with our founding, but that didn’t break the surface until 2012, the year that non-Anglo births surpassed Anglo births. By 2045, in every way we currently measure, we’ll be a minority-majority nation. This shift is embodied by Generation Alpha, the birth cohort born starting that year. Not only are the Alphas all minorities, they’re the first non-racialized, non-genderized, non-heteronormative, non-religionized, fully diversity-embracing generation in human history. And that’s not just here. This foundational shifting is happening all over the world, and the biggest impediment their generation will face is our generation – those of us who are adults today.
I believe this to be true, that we are humankind’s threshold generation, the ones who determine if we’ll hand off to the future a society that works for all of them. I also believe wholeheartedly in the inescapable network of mutuality, that we can’t solve our problems using the same tactics that created them, and that while we don’t have unlimited time, if we use it well, we can navigate this great shift and make it safely to the other side.
The Musketeers weren’t wrong when they declared “All for one and one for all.”
This, an “all for all” society is essentially what I saw growing up, that my grandparents and so many others before and after them helped create. It was the impetus behind everything from the Underground Railroad to the labor movement to the original Rainbow Coalition. It’s woven into the mighty dream Martin evoked, the foundation upon which Bayard built the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the lifeblood of every social movement that’s dared close the gap between who we are and who we could be.
We’re told that holding fast to our hope in humanity is wishful thinking or the refuge of the weak, when, in reality, there might be nothing harder or more powerful. Because, if I learned anything from Mary, it’s that it's only by never ceasing to believe the best in each other that we find it within ourselves to live up to that belief invested in us, to be better. And it's only by rising to the challenge -- being a better people, living in a land made for both you and me, that we form a more perfect union, forge a way forward and create for ourselves a future.
Third, I think of the many people across the nation, I’m blessed to have known, and who, in millions of small ways, left both my life and the world itself better than they found it. This work is about them and so many others before them who, even if we don’t remember their names, shaped who we’ve become and live on in our constant becoming. This is my way of honoring them.
And I think of all those whose value we’ve discounted and all the wonderful gifts they could have bequeathed the world had they been able. I’m reminded of that story about the scientist who died and went to heaven, where he asked Saint Peter, “Who was the greatest scientist to ever live?” Saint Peter pointed to a man on a park bench and said, “There he is.”
“Pardon me, Saint Peter,” the man replied. “But I believe you’re mistaken.” “I knew that man back on earth, and while he was nice enough, he never even graduated high school, nor was he ever a scientist.” “You’re right,” said Saint Peter, “But if he had been a scientist, he would have been the greatest who had ever lived.” I want my gift to coming generations to be a society where they’re treated better, one where everyone can thrive. And by becoming that kind of society, we all benefit from the gifts they give to us.
But that’s only part of it; there’s also what’s happening with us. We Americans are a nation in flux, undergoing what’s arguably the greatest sociological shift in U.S. history; one where, in every way we currently measure, we’ll soon be a post-majority nation. And in such a nation, only actions resulting in a society that works for all of us will make survival possible for any of us. On the back cover of This Land Is Your Land, I describe our situation this way:
Right now, the US is in the midst of an unprecedented sociological shift; one that began with our founding, but that didn’t break the surface until 2012, the year that non-Anglo births surpassed Anglo births. By 2045, in every way we currently measure, we’ll be a minority-majority nation. This shift is embodied by Generation Alpha, the birth cohort born starting that year. Not only are the Alphas all minorities, they’re the first non-racialized, non-genderized, non-heteronormative, non-religionized, fully diversity-embracing generation in human history. And that’s not just here. This foundational shifting is happening all over the world, and the biggest impediment their generation will face is our generation – those of us who are adults today.
I believe this to be true, that we are humankind’s threshold generation, the ones who determine if we’ll hand off to the future a society that works for all of them. I also believe wholeheartedly in the inescapable network of mutuality, that we can’t solve our problems using the same tactics that created them, and that while we don’t have unlimited time, if we use it well, we can navigate this great shift and make it safely to the other side.
The Musketeers weren’t wrong when they declared “All for one and one for all.”
This, an “all for all” society is essentially what I saw growing up, that my grandparents and so many others before and after them helped create. It was the impetus behind everything from the Underground Railroad to the labor movement to the original Rainbow Coalition. It’s woven into the mighty dream Martin evoked, the foundation upon which Bayard built the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, and the lifeblood of every social movement that’s dared close the gap between who we are and who we could be.
We’re told that holding fast to our hope in humanity is wishful thinking or the refuge of the weak, when, in reality, there might be nothing harder or more powerful. Because, if I learned anything from Mary, it’s that it's only by never ceasing to believe the best in each other that we find it within ourselves to live up to that belief invested in us, to be better. And it's only by rising to the challenge -- being a better people, living in a land made for both you and me, that we form a more perfect union, forge a way forward and create for ourselves a future.