- Collection:
- Southern Journey Oral History Collection
- Title:
- Georgia - Albany: Michael Moss Interviewee
- Contributor to Resource:
- Dent, Thomas C.
- Date of Original:
- 1991-07-31
- Subject:
- African Americans
Civil rights demonstrations
Civil rights
Education
Art
Dance
Music
Church buildings - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Dougherty County, Albany, 31.57851, -84.15574
United States, New York, Columbia County, Stuyvesant, 42.39036, -73.78151 - Medium:
- sound recordings
- Type:
- Sound
- Format:
- audio/mpeg
- Description:
- Tom Dent interviews Michael Moss in Albany, Georgia. He talks about his upbringing. His father is Portuguese-Irish American and his mother is African American. Moss took his mother's maiden name. They discuss the history of Portuguese Blacks in the Connecticut area where his father is from, although his father is White. Moss considers himself a child of the Movement (he was born in 1969). His mother moved back to the South from Massachusetts as his father became involved in the drug scene. They lived on New Communities farm. His mother was active in the civil rights movement, and he explains how she became involved. They discuss mutual acquaintance Reverend Samuel B. Wells. Moss talks about New Communities. He talks about his education. He moved to Stuyvesant in upper state New York in the early 1980s. Dent talks about his experience at a Quaker school in Poughkeepsie. They lived on the estate of Juanita Poitier, ex-wife of Sidney Poitier. Moss's mother had gone to school with their children. He talks about his experience as one of the only Black students at Ichabod Crane High School. He discusses his upbringing at New Communities and talks about his stepfather, Sam Young. They left Stuyvesant to return to Albany because his mother wished to be more politically active. He was forced into political involvement by his family, and discusses his involvement with the group Concerned Youth of Albany. His mother and aunt, Mary Young Cummings (née Moss), were critical of the group's leader. After graduating high school, Moss went back to New York to study at Berkshire College. He like the proximity of the Berkshire Theatre Festival, and had always been involved in theater, dance, and musical performance. He wishes to one day start an arts complex, probably in the South. He recognizes that he needs more training, which he will need to leave Albany to receive. He has had a difficult time in Albany; he finds it too restricting. He gives the example of a poorly decent theater that was constructed. Moss is not religious, but his grandfather is a Baptist minister. He discusses his family. His mother wants him to be financially stable. Dent talks about similar conversations with his family over his writing career. Moss does not think that Albany has the potential for change despite the presence of people from outside the city. He had to cut his dreadlocks to get a job when he returned to the city. He talks about meeting Stanley [John]? He talks about leaving New Communities to go to New York and his experienced as a mixed-race student in junior high school.
- Metadata URL:
- https://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/islandora/object/tulane:53894
- Contributing Institution:
- Amistad Research Center
- Rights:
-
