Wilkerson tells Harry T. Moore’s story for several reasons. First, it speaks to the violence of segregation and the dangers that activists faced before the organized civil rights movement emerged. (This had important consequences for the Great Migration: until the late 1950s, Black people had little hope of seeing conditions change in the South, which encouraged them to migrate.) Second, it gives important context to George Starling’s early life in Florida. And third, Harry T. Moore is a largely forgotten civil rights hero, and Wilkerson hopes to help revive his legacy.