Blind Roosevelt Graves

Blind Roosevelt Graves

written by: DeWayne Moore

@MtZionFund

From the boycotts on buses
To wade-ins on the beach
To the widespread allegations
Against perverts and creeps
A true American spirit
All those amber waves
Are buried down in Gulfport 
With Roosevelt Graves

Elementary school educations
Rigid edits on each side
Silence uncomfortable truths
Far too unpolite
The dark corners of the past
To which we remain enslaved
Are buried and unmarked
Beside Roosevelt Graves

Excitement and passion
A truly dogged search
No help or encouragement
In the old rugged church
On anger and morals
And principles so craved
We toss some more dirt
On Roosevelt’s grave

Talk straight, write hard
But have nothing to say
No contact or support
You may be insane
Perseverance, persistence
Create anew, yet don’t save
Anything useful or important
About Roosevelt Graves

Born here, died there
Got married in between
Attended church, served proudly
Now floating in the breeze
Be outspoken and active
Do not misbehave
Die unheard and unknown
Like Roosevelt Graves?

• About
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DeWayne Moore

Having received his master’s degree in from Middle Tennessee State University, DeWayne has spearheaded the renewed efforts of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, a private research and memorial organization since 2010. He completed his doctorate in History at the University of Mississippi in May 2018. He has contributed articles to Living Blues magazine out of Oxford, Mississippi, Blues & Rhythm magazine out of London, and the Frog Blues & Jazz Annual out of London, and he is revising his two monographs that expose the silences in historical scholarship pertaining to the black freedom struggle, the blues, and blues tourism in Mississippi by detailing the careers of African American activists and cultural brokers as well as the events from which blues tourism emerged in the 1970s.

Latest posts by DeWayne Moore (see all)

• It’s Over - August 5, 2019
• Cleaning Plates - February 19, 2019
• Walking The Highway At Night - September 25, 2018