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Tears for a Hero: Remembering Bill Moss
by James Moss
September 8, 2005

I thought that I would cry in my private place but when Daniel and William III (Bill Moss’s two sons) began sharing the love their dad gave to them, and how much they loved and missed him. My eyes could not hold back the tears. I felt Bill Moss’s sons’ pain and hollow feeling of being without a father.

I began to get angry because the large crowd of people had a different meaning to me. I reflected to the many rallies, meetings, marches, and other communities events that Bill Moss had sponsored. Where were these so-called Bill Moss Supporters? Where was the crowd of people? I don’t remember seeing lines of people trying to vote for Bill Moss during his last bid for Columbus Board of Election. Elected officials and pastors did not praise Bill Moss, when he ran for Mayor of Columbus, U.S. Congress, and the Columbus School Board.

I recall when Bill ran for Mayor of Columbus; it was only a few of us remained in his campaign headquarters on E. Broad that night as we watched the votes being tallied on television. I drove Bill Moss to different campaign functions and he received little support from the Democrat Party of Columbus. There were no proclamations or resolutions read when Bill lost his bid for a seat on the Columbus Board of Education. There was no discussion about him taking a stand on issues that other board members were afraid to speak about. Ministers and pastors did not invite him or give him permission to use their church to continue his fight for justice.

I remembered when Bill came to me to seek permission to have the meetings of the Friends of Freedom & Justice at First A.M.E. Zion Church. I was member and officer of this church. It was no problem for me to ask the permission of my pastor for Bill’s use of the church. Our church is known as the “Freedom Church” and our church has always taken great pride to help in the civil rights struggle. Bill would have rallies at our church. Also, Reverend Dr. Jeffery Kee, pastor of New Faith Baptist Church, permitted Bill to use his church for rallies and Reverend Dr. Jeffery Kee invited Bill more than once to preach at his church. He spoke at our church during worship service because he was a minister. Bill was a guest speaker at other events at our church.

I don’t know the number of other churches that opened up their doors to Bill Moss to speak or hold rallies but I saw a large number of ministries and pastors at Smyrna Baptist Church and Mt. Hermon Missionary Baptist Church for Bill Moss Celebration of Life Services. I just thought if these same pastors wanted to show Bill Moss their love when he was living, there should have been a host of churches to open up their doors to Bill Moss for his rallies, his preaching, and his campaign meetings

Bill Moss was a “can-doer.” He had a good attitude and commitment to serve the people in Columbus whom he loved. Bill had the confidence to overcome any obstacles that his enemies put in front of him. Bill Moss was not afraid of failure when he ran for public office because he was guaranteed success by the words of God-not man. Bill Moss did not worry about the problems in Columbus he took action to solve them.

I wiped my tears, and I began to reflect more about how I am going to react to Bill's death. I know that I will strive to become a better warrior in the fight for human rights in Columbus and other cities in the United States. An elder in my church said, “If all Black men in America would get angry about the same subject on the same day, and take action, the white man in this country would become afraid of our power. But the white man and the government know the impact on slavery has produced too many Black men getting angry about issues that have no impact on the empowerment of Black people that will lead to total liberation.” I wonder how many Black men got angry when they saw the cartoon of Bill Moss in the Columbus Dispatch or did they become overwhelmed with fear.

Fear kept some Blacks in Columbus from getting involved or supporting Bill Moss. Fear is faith in the negative outcome. Some Blacks didn’t support Bill Moss because they were fearful what their peers, neighbors, church members, and co-workers would say. Some did not support Bill Moss because they were fearful that their employer might fire them from their good job. They were fearful that someone might think they were radical for supporting Bill Moss.

How do you overcome fear? Christopher Burge, author of His Rules, gave a formula to overcome fear at a seminar that I attended: “Your name minus fear: equals powerful loving sound self discipline mind.” If you have a powerful sound self discipline mind, then Satan can not strip you to think very negative. Fear is subtracted from your thoughts to perform certain acts because you have integrity. Bill Moss had plenty of integrity, and he was fearless because his actions and thoughts always moved in a positive direction.

I wonder how many press releases and letters were generated by Black men. Men with integrity will not wonder what they will do next in Columbus. They will meet in private, they will be chosen; they will go out and fight without broadcasting their plans. As a former Vietnam War Airborne Ranger combat veteran, the element of surprise and a strong leader dictates who is going to win the battle. A person who broadcast their action plan on how they are going to fight isn’t a leader but a false prophet. Watch out for the false prophets, “want to be leaders”, who will use Bill Moss’s death as a leaping board to project themselves in the public’s eye. They will shout and use people emotions to excite their followers in a negative direction. These false prophets have no integrity, no endurance, and they are fearful.

You must have endurance to be a great leader, and Bill Moss had a lot of endurance. Bill Moss was a strong leader and a hero. If the Black people want to change things in Columbus then they must be able to endure because it could be a long fight. It won’t be months but years. Are Columbus Blacks ready to endure? Are they fearful to follow the path of Bill Moss? Will you follow a leader with integrity or will you follow a false prophet trying to act like a leader?

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