We recently connected with Gary Moore and have shared our conversation below.

Gary, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve dreamed of wondrous things since I was a small child. I saw magic in the mundane at an early age and was given space to explore these curiosities. I was probably considered the strange kid. the Blerd(Black Nerd) with a very small social circle consisting of other comic book reading misfits. The problem is, I was naively in pursuit of what my high school counselor advised was out of reach for me, the idea that I could go on to college and pursue some semblance of my ill-formed dreams.
And admittedly, I really didn’t know what it is I wanted to do, but in the small town that I’m from, it was made clear that my choices were limited to a submission to the local manufacturing economy or the streets. I was ill-suited for either and managed to leave for college with $20 in my pocket.
As one could imagine, with such a lack of support, I was soon right back where I began, sitting at the kitchen table in a very small rental, trying to teach myself to dream.
My first real poetry was attempted in high school and encouraged, along with a penchant for creative short fiction, by an inspirational English teacher.
She’s the one. The reason for me believing all these years later that I could be a writer. She planted a seed, though it was up to me in the preceding years to figure out how to water it.
It took decades of cultivation and a pandemic for me to consider it.
I’ve denied it, run from it, tried my best to please other’s in the pursuit of their dreams.
I’ve driven delivery trucks and worked as a Park Leader and spent years as an Alternative Education Teacher.
I blew out my knee and got addicted to painkillers and saw my first child born and spent nine months in prison, all within a year of burying my older brother.
Yeah, the last few years have been quite a lot to deal with, and I haven’t even gotten to the pandemic.
That was it. I had reached the limits of my own denial. Sent home from the school in the South Suburbs of Chicago that I was working at, I decided that now was the time to take a chance.

Gary, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Gary E. Moore. I am a poet, an author and a dad. My first published work, released in 2021, is Songs For The Cleveland Avenue Warriors, a book of poetry that was soon followed up with the first two entries in my children’s book series, What Daddy Do and What Mommy Do, each of which are available for download on Amazon, along with my second book of poetry, Songs For the Cleveland Avenue Warriors: Reality and Fame. I am currently awaiting publication of my first novel, Bealz, Prince of the Southside, and I am finishing up my second full length manuscript.
While writing is my passion, I have always felt that my true calling has been to work with kids in some capacity.
During my educational career, I spent the majority of my time working with behaviorally challenged students, kids that I found most in need of support and guidance.
Post-Pandemic, I chose to pursue my passion for my art, my poetry and writing, but I wanted to find a way to maintain my passion for education and mentorship as well.
In that, I developed Poetry With A Purpose, a workshop designed to engage and educate students through poetry and the spoken word experience.
The workshop, which is Common Core Aligned, is offered as either an abbreviated, three day course, or a more in-depth, six week experience, culminating in a spoken word event hosted by the student participants.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I am of the belief that Dreamers shape the world. We, as a society, have been duped to believe that these Dreamers, these artists and creatives, are rare. Our talents are commoditized. And yet, the importance of the arts transcends profit. It is just as necessary to the human spirit as the air we breath is for our bodies. It is nourishment. And because of that, it should be given the same priority as our profit-driven school curriculums. Society needs just as many Writers and Singers and Dancers and Artists as it does Doctors and Engineers and Lawyers.
So, if nothing more, it is important to raise our voice in support of the Dreamers amongst us. Tell your local leaders, your school boards and city councils.
Many of the kids lost to the streets right now would have found sanctuary if their talents had been supported. I know it. I’ve witnessed it first hand.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Although, as a child, I was exposed to the arts along with my white counterparts, I was never given reason to believe that such pursuits were possible. I was born amidst a very concrete and steel reality ands the expectations for compliance weighed heavy on me and my family. My father would sing in church with such a beautiful and passionate tenor. He was born to sing opera. But was forced to be a sharecropper.
This is the Devil’s choice that I had to unlearn.
I had to be willing to give everything up and to step out on faith. I will no longer choose between the two options. So for me, it’s all or nothing.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gemoore71/ https://www.instagram.com/whatdaddydo.co/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067176917513
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gary-moore-12104a84/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Prince_Bealz