Cleveland Mississippi is known for many different things. Cleveland ranges everywhere from the blues all the way to key factors in the civil right movements. One of these key factors of the civil rights movement was a man named Amzie Moore. Amzie was a key leader in the movement uniting the black population of Cleveland, that is why he was given a Freedom Trail Marker in the city to serve as a memory for all to see his great accomplishments.
Amzie Moore was born on September 23, 1911 in a small town in Grenada County, Mississippi. Amzie was raised on the Wilkins Plantation just to the north of Greenwood, Mississippi. In 1926, he moved to Cleveland Mississippi. Amzie Moore got drafted by the United States Armed Services in 1942 during the second
…show more content…
He opened a combination store containing a service station, beauty shop, and restaurant. From that point on Amzie worked organizing a change for blacks throughout the Mississippi Delta. He Co-founded the Reginal Council of Negro Leadership along with the help of Dr. T.R.M. Howard, a very wealthy surgeon, in 1950. Amzie served as Vice-Chairman of this council and it soon began to flourish. The council had a following of almost 100,000 people from over half of the counties in Mississippi. Amzie worked with the National Assocition for the Advancment of Colored People communicating about conferances and fundraisers. The Cleveland chapter of the National Associastion of the Advancment of Colored People elected Amzie Moore president in 1955. Amzie and Medgar Evers built the chapter up to 439 members over the next few years making it the second largest branch in the state. Shortly after the building of the branch, Moore became Vice-President of the State Conference of National Association for the Advancment of Colored People branches. Moore met with President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Amzie created the first Head Start program for people in Boliver County. The location of the establishment was at 612 Church Street in Cleveland, Mississippi. The center served over 1400 poor white families and 7600 poor black families in 1966. In 1967, 1968, and 1969 Head Start