In the Council of the District of Columbia

1 1 ______2 3 4 Councilmember LaRuby May 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 A C E R E M O N I A L R E S O L U T I O N 13 14 ______15 16 17 I N T H E C O U N C I L O F T H E D I S T R I C T O F C O L U M B I A 18 19 ______20 21 22 To recognize and honor Douglas E. Moore for his remarkable service to the citizens of the District of 23 Columbia as a Councilmember, as an entrepreneur in business in the District of Columbia and as 24 an unrelenting civil rights activist committed to justice and equal rights; 25 26 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore was born on July 3, 1928 in Hickory, North Carolina. Destined to be a child 27 of protest, young Douglas took his rightful place as a city newspaper carrier at an all white dinner 28 for newspaper boys. In 1945 he became the first Black eagle scout in the county; 29 30 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore graduated from North Carolina College in 1949 and studied one year at the 31 Howard University School of Theology before attending the Boston University School of 32 Divinity from 1953 to 1958; earning a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a Masters of Sacred 33 Theology. While matriculating at Boston University he was a classmate of Martin Luther King Jr; 34 35 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore engaged in ministerial leadership in North Carolina, serving as pastor of 36 Methodist churches in Ramseur, Leakesville and Durham from 1955 to 1960; founding a chapter 37 of the NAACP and a voters’ rights organization in Leakesville; serving as a Professor of 38 Theology at Livingston College, and as Director of the Wesley Foundation at North Carolina 39 College in Durham; 40 41 WHEREAS, on June 23, 1957, Douglas Moore, while serving as the Pastor of Ashbury Temple Methodist 42 Church in Durham, North Carolina led the Royal Ice Cream Palor Sit-in to protest segregation in 43 Durham; sparking a wave of student sit-ins in other North Carolina cities and throughout the 44 South in the years to come. For his efforts in organizing the Durham Seven in the first sit-in in the 45 State of North Carolina Douglas Moore was awarded the key to the city of Durham by Mayor 46 William V, Bell and in 2007 and a historical marker was placed at the site to honor the event in 47 2008; 48 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore demonstrated the importance of direct action and collective organizing to 49 students and was instrumental in laying the seeds that galvanized the social movement that 50 confronted Jim Crow laws in North Carolina. As a civil rights activist he was a participant in the

1 51 Raleigh Easter Conference on Civil Disobedience in 1960 and served on the Executive Board of 52 Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); 53 54 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore, after attending Yale University and the University of Grenoble to gain 55 fluency in French, briefly left the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from 1962 to 1965 56 to serve as a Methodist missionary in the Belgian Congo; 57 58 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore, after his return from the Belgian Congo, settled in Washington D.C. and 59 served as Assistant Director of the Shaw Urban Renewal Project from 1966 to 1969 and he also 60 became involved in the Civil Rights movement in the City; joining the newly founded Black 61 United Front and eventually becoming its leader; 62 63 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore, as Chairman of the Black United Front, challenged the United Givers Fund 64 (UGF) for its failure to provide funding to Black organizations in the District and in response to 65 the findings of discrimination by the UGF created the United Black Fund with Cox and Baily as 66 Charter Cosigners; 67 68 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore, along with Chuck Stone, Jessie Anderson and others in March of 1969, 69 founded the DC Statehood Committee; thus initiating the modern day drive for statehood for the 70 District of Columbia; 71 72 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore voluntarily established ministerial visits to Lorton Penitentiary; prompting 73 the United Methodist Church to establish a position for permanent visitation there; 74 75 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore, performed the ceremony that united civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael 76 and international South African singer Miriam Makeba in marriage near the courthouse in 77 Washington, DC in 1968; 78 79 WHEREAS, in 1974 Douglas Moore was elected to the Council of the District of Columbia as an “At- 80 Large” member and with the greatest number of votes of any at-large member; He served as 81 Chairman of the Budget Committee and presided over a balanced budget during his tenure; 82 83 Whereas, Douglas Moore served as founder and President of Moore Energy Resources in 1981 and 84 garnered energy and fuel contracts to sell gas, coal and oil from Pepco, Washington Gas, Coastal 85 Energy, Duke Energy, and Brooklyn Union. As a result, philanthropic work was carried out; 86 donating funds to charitable organizations, colleges and universities and deserving students; 87 88 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore spent decades rallying against racial hiring biases in corporations at the 89 District and National level; and bought shares so that he could serve as a ‘corporate circuit rider', 90 attending meetings to challenge the lack of minority representation in hiring and on boards of 91 directors; to challenge the failure of wealthy corporations to contribute to worthy minority 92 nonprofits and minority educational institutions; and to query them regarding legal, ethical and 93 moral business practices; 94 95 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore is cited as a historical figure and civil rights activist of renown in books 96 such as The Parting of the Waters by Taylor Branch, Dream City by Sherwood and Jaffe and 97 other texts, books and historical documents on the civil rights movement; 98 99 WHEREAS, Douglas Moore has devoted his life to fighting injustice and advocating for change;

2 100 101 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, that this resolution may 102 be cited as the “Douglas E. Moore Ceremonial Recognition Resolution of 2016.” 103 104 Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes, honors, and celebrates, the work of Douglas 105 E. Moore, for his distinguished service and contributions to the District of Columbia. 106 107 Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately upon the first date of publication in the 108 in the 108 District of Columbia Register.