Brief Interpretive Memo

Interpretive Memo

Over the past few weeks, I have gathered and reviewed newspaper articles, journal articles, and interviews that dealt with Ivory Moore. Because of my specific focus there is information that at one point seems irrelevant, but on the other hand the information can be useful in other contexts. The interviews that I was able to watch will be helpful in forming Moore’s early life experiences. As I said in an earlier conceptual memo, “My purpose in watching this particular segment of interview is to gain a better insight in to Moore’s personal life and historical background.” After having read Moore’s “Commerce on the Move articles I can see a connection between his early childhood and his writing. In the first Moore interview, he says that he grew up in Oklahoma and was a raised on a farm. He was part of a large family with seven boys and one girl. It seems that Moore’s ability to relate well in the large family setting translated well into his visits with the many business owners that he would later interview in “Commerce on the Move.” Although this particular video was vague on the aspects of Moore’s education, his personal resume will be a great source in filling in the blanks. One of the best quotes that I was able to get from this video interview was when Moore was talking about his opportunities at Paris Junior College. He says of the time that it “gave me a chance to start writing” From the second video interview, I learned that Moore got to know many of the key players in the Norris Community when he came to Commerce. This interview does give me some biographical info to start my paper with; I will be able to sketch out a rural background where education is important (Moore went to both high school and college). I think I can also draw a parallel to Moore’s upbringing on the farm and the rural conditions of the Norris Community. I would speculate that Moore’s upbringing was crucial to helping him communicate with and understand the struggles of the Norris Community. Moore begins this interview with a clearer articulation of the relationship between the university and the community. Moore makes the comment that the Norris community Center was used for speakers of both academic and political nature. He also says that part of his job with the university was to establish relationships with the community. Again this seems to play out well in the “Commerce on the Move” column. This relationship with the Norris Community seems to have also helped Moore in his political undertakings. In “Black Voters Turnout,” David Fisk makes the connection between Moore and the Norris Community clear. He says, “[Moore] was supported by the Norris Community Club in his campaign and has served in as chairman of various committees in that organization.” The articles that I found in The Commerce Journal provide a nice snapshoot of what the community felt was important in connection to Moore’s life. I think the articles also offer some great quotes showcasing Moore’s opinion and others about his work and himself. I will be using these to both supplement my narrative and as a guide post to the types of events in which Moore was involved. I think these articles can also point to the collective values of the community in which Moore lived and worked. For the most part these articles are complimentary, but there is one or two that seem skewed. An example of this is the article titled “Moore elected as Mayor” written by Iris Robinson. The article reports the opinions of some of Moore’s fellow committee persons and they are less than favorable. These reactions seem to show the dual nature of the community. On one hand we have support in the form of awards and press time for t he first African-American mayor, yet on the other the comments by his fellows is problematic. I would assume that this is typical of the time period in which these articles were written and the specific geographic area in which they were written. The articles that Moore wrote for The Commerce Journal did not provide a lot of information in the form of biographical information, but I think it is a safe assumption to look at the cultural / social context of the articles and deduce some character references for Moore. Although not necessarily my focus, it is interesting to note that in multiple articles, Moore practices literacy sponsorship, having the businesses he is reviewing write their own histories. I think this would be an interesting study for the future. So where does this leave us? Why look at Moore and his life? I think this is best answered by some of literacy theories big names…the work of Brain V. Street focuses on Literacy as a social event, and because of the social nature, literacy or more specifically the analysis of literacy has multiple influences, influences like ideology or cultures. Granted I am not doing a literacy study per se, but I think that Moore is influenced by and influenced his community. In her work with the Oral History Project in Brooklyn, Deborah Mutnick explores the pedagogy of the public sphere, arguing that “individual stories could begin to shape a larger collective one.” One of Mutnick’s conclusions is that the telling of personal stories from our communities can help us to learn three lessons: 1 Everybody’s story has value; 2 we have to tell the stories ourselves in order to know who we are. 3 We have to listen to others’ stories in order to know them. In the spirit of Mutnick’s project it is important for us to look locally to our community members and the stories they tell. In other words looking at an influential person such as Moore is also a way to look at the community itself. Another reason Moore is important is that he plays out the theory that David Gold discusses in his work, service. Moore is an exemplar of service to his community, both through his roles as educator and city official. As I look further into the life and work of Ivory Moore I can begin to see the effect that one person may have on a community. Moore’s work is important not only as a sketch of an educator’s life but also a glimpse into the workings of our community.