This Sunday, the Craven Arts Council and local nonprofits will hold New Bern’s first-ever remembrance ceremony for John Moore, who was lynched in 1905.
August 27th will mark nearly 120 years since John Moore died in an act of racial violence. This Sunday, Forward Together, a coalition of local nonprofits and groups, are taking part in Equal Justice Initiatives Remembrance Project. Craven Arts’ Executive Director, John Burger, said this is a solemn occasion but also a learning one.
“When we do that, hopefully the idea is we are aware and we can move forward and we can make things better for everyone in our community.”
Burger said this event is about recognizing the community’s history, especially the untold stories.
“Lots of things, including art, have been exclusionary in the past and we're trying to do better. We may not always be the best at it, but we try and put that effort forth.”
As the event opens the community up for conversations about racial injustice, Auburn University’s Associate Professor in Southern History, Elijah Gaddis, said acts of remembrance are an essential step for communities to acknowledge the South’s history of racial violence.
“It really forces sort of the the much larger community, black, white, everybody. Right. To to actually remember these lynchings and think about how they've helped shape the communities that we live in today.”
Gaddis said North Carolina’s history of racial violence remains largely unspoken, but remembrance events and community recognition can change that dialogue.
“It's sort of astonishing that actually nearly every corner of North Carolina had a lynching at one point in the past.”
John Moore’s remembrance ceremony is open to the public and will take place this Sunday, August 25th at 2pm. The ceremony will be at the River End of Johnson Street Downtown New Bern. For more information on attending, visit the Craven Arts Council and Gallery website.