Our Why.
Marchers in downtown Birmingham, 1963.
MMI isn't just named after Mary Charles Moore, the subject of Me and Mary - An African American Grandma, the Grandson She Raised, and the Lessons She Taught Him.
Everything from our ethos to our approach is grounded both in her hard-won wisdom and her unshakable faith in humanity -- how as a colored woman in the South and a person born into poverty, as a victim of classism in her own community and racism in American society, as a witness of everything from the KKK's reign of terror to our nation's fateful assassinations -- despite so often seeing us at our worst, she held fast to her belief in who each of us could be at our best. That we can leave the world itself better than we found it.
That's also what drives us, and the 40 humanitarian virtues described in Me and Mary are what we seek to make real in the world. Written by Rodney, her first grandson and MMI founder, the book's summary describes Mary this way:
Me and Mary tells the story of Mary Moore, a woman of remarkable grace and fortitude, and the life lessons she both learned and passed on. It's about her trials; the barriers she faced in early-twentieth century Birmingham, the most racially oppressive place in America, about being female and colored, poor and Southern, the orphaned daughter of sharecroppers, of coming of age in a culture dominated by the likes of Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind, and racked by the Great Depression.
But it’s also about her triumphs; her quiet dignity even when working as a servant, her unwavering commitment to always see the good in others, and how she left everyone, and the world itself, better than she found it.
Mary's story is that of a southern domestic. Her daily radius was less than five miles, and her role as pastor's wife and mother to anyone who needed mothering, almost entirely behind the scenes. Yet the ripple effects of her life would touch everything from civil rights to race relations, from the AIDS epidemic to the election of the first African American president.
And as a result, she reminds us of the deep capacity within all of us; the power to change the world itself.
In his description of what propelled him to launch MMI, Rodney explained his "why" this way:
The work we do here is important to me for all manner of reasons, but perhaps most significantly, because of the role economic and 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, for me, it’s all those who didn’t get the chance to know them who missed out. They live on in this work.
That's also what drives us, and the 40 humanitarian virtues described in Me and Mary are what we seek to make real in the world. Written by Rodney, her first grandson and MMI founder, the book's summary describes Mary this way:
Me and Mary tells the story of Mary Moore, a woman of remarkable grace and fortitude, and the life lessons she both learned and passed on. It's about her trials; the barriers she faced in early-twentieth century Birmingham, the most racially oppressive place in America, about being female and colored, poor and Southern, the orphaned daughter of sharecroppers, of coming of age in a culture dominated by the likes of Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind, and racked by the Great Depression.
But it’s also about her triumphs; her quiet dignity even when working as a servant, her unwavering commitment to always see the good in others, and how she left everyone, and the world itself, better than she found it.
Mary's story is that of a southern domestic. Her daily radius was less than five miles, and her role as pastor's wife and mother to anyone who needed mothering, almost entirely behind the scenes. Yet the ripple effects of her life would touch everything from civil rights to race relations, from the AIDS epidemic to the election of the first African American president.
And as a result, she reminds us of the deep capacity within all of us; the power to change the world itself.
In his description of what propelled him to launch MMI, Rodney explained his "why" this way:
The work we do here is important to me for all manner of reasons, but perhaps most significantly, because of the role economic and 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, for me, it’s all those who didn’t get the chance to know them who missed out. They live on in this work.
"In the entire country," Martin said in his autobiography, "There was no place to compare with Birmingham."
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.
- Read a preview of Me and Mary online -
- Download a free digital copy or purchase a print copy -
- Listen to the Me and Mary playlist on Spotify or Pandora -
- Read a preview of This Land Is Your Land online -
- Download a free digital copy or purchase a print copy -
- Listen to the This Land Is Your Land playlist on Spotify or Pandora -
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.
- Read a preview of Me and Mary online -
- Download a free digital copy or purchase a print copy -
- Listen to the Me and Mary playlist on Spotify or Pandora -
- Read a preview of This Land Is Your Land online -
- Download a free digital copy or purchase a print copy -
- Listen to the This Land Is Your Land playlist on Spotify or Pandora -