The Midwife of Black Nationalism

Audley Moore mentored Malcolm X, popularized reparations for African Americans in a 1963 essay, and advanced the cause of Black women in both the Black nationalist and civil rights movements. She rubbed elbows with the Mandelas, Jessie Jackson, and Rosa Parks. Once a household name in the mid-20th century, she has fallen out of the history books, despite a career of organizing and activism that spanned a century, her artifacts lost and her archives scattered. But more than 100 years after Moore's birth and 28 years after her death, Ashley D. Farmer has written the first biography of Moore, Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore. Farmer brings together a decade of research spanning oral history, archival work from Louisiana to New York City, and, of course, reams of FBI documents to paint the fullest picture of this icon's life to date. Go beyond the episode: Ashley D. Farmer’s Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore Speaking of neglected Black figures: read Harriet A. Washington’s Winter 2026 cover story on Rudolph Fisher, Harlem Renaissance man Tune in every (other) week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek and sponsored by the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

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The Midwife of Black Nationalism is an episode from Smarty Pants by Stephanie Bastek.

This episode is 30:32 long.

This episode was published on Dec 12, 2025.

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