Cecil B. Moore's Life Gets Spotlight as North Philadelphia Subway Stop Is Rededicated
By Jim Melwert
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- SEPTA today rededicated one of its busiest subway stops to honor the legacy of the man the stop -- and the adjacent street -- is named for.
Cecil B. Moore's military, legal, and political careers are depicted in a new mural at the Cecil B. Moore stop of Septa's Broad Street line in North Philadelphia.
There's also a plaque with his history that replaces one that disappeared when the station was renovated nearly 20 years ago.
Moore's daughter, Cecily Banks, says it's important to remember what her father's work means for the community.
"I think the key element is that there's no such thing as being prevented from doing something if you really want to do it badly enough," she said today, "and you can find a way to do it, no matter how daunting, no matter how insurmountable the obstacles appear, that you really can achieve that."
The mosaic mural is made with ceramic tiles. One frame shows Moore leading a desegregation rally at Girard College, another shows him as a Marine in World War II, and one panel shows him with fellow civil rights leaders Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.
"His life story is so bigger-than-life, so there was so much to work with, it was such an honor to be involved in memorializing Cecil B. Moore," says artist Jonathan Mandell.
