Off My Neck: From Cotton Fields To U.S. Marshal

Born and raised in Algoma, Mississippi, Robert Moore grew up in a time and place where a young Black boy’s horizons seemed limited to “the plow and the mules.” He became part of the Great Migration, moving north to Illinois where he would shatter barrier after barrier in law enforcement.

He was trained by the Illinois State Police as a civil rights advocate——and became one of the first Black Illinois State Troopers to serve as an Equal Employment Opportunity Director, fighting for justice both on the streets and within the system itself.

And in 1994, President Bill Clinton appointed him as a United States Marshal, making him only the second Black presidential appointee to that position in Illinois—walking in the footsteps of legends like Bass Reeves and Frederick Douglass.

Today he discusses his newly published autobiography, “Off My Neck”—a book published through his own company, Black Marshal Publishing.

__

GUESTS:

Robert Moore

• Retired United States Marshal, former Chief of Police of Jackson, Mississippi, pioneering Illinois State Trooper, and celebrated author.