Bob Moses (activist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Bob Moses
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Moses in 2014
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| Born |
Robert Parris Moses
January 23, 1935 Harlem, New York City
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| Died | July 25, 2021 (aged 86) Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
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| Education | Hamilton College (BA) Harvard University (MA) |
| Occupation |
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| Organization | Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) |
| Known for | Freedom Summer Algebra Project |
| Title | Cornell University Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor |
| Predecessor | Cynthia McKinney |
| Movement | Civil Rights Movement |
| Spouse(s) | Dona Richards Janet Jemmott |
| Awards | MacArthur Fellowship (1982) War Resisters League Peace Award (1997) Heinz Award for the Human Condition (1999) Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship (2001) Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award (2001) James Bryant Conant Award (2002) Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Fellowship (2005) Honorary Degree, Swarthmore College (2007) |
Robert Parris Moses (born January 23, 1935 – died July 25, 2021) was an important American educator and civil rights activist. He is best known for his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He helped African Americans register to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement. He also helped start the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Moses was born and grew up in Harlem, New York City. He studied at Hamilton College and later earned a Master's degree from Harvard University. In the 1960s, he worked for civil rights and against the Vietnam War. After being drafted into the military in 1966, he moved to Tanzania. There, he taught and worked with the Ministry of Education for about ten years.
When he returned to the U.S. in 1982, Moses started the Algebra Project. This program helps minority students learn algebra. It works with parents, teachers, and students to improve their math skills. The goal is to help them get ready for college and good jobs.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Robert Parris Moses was born in New York City on January 23, 1935. His parents, Gregory and Louise Moses, raised him and his two siblings in public housing. They often visited the public library.
He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1952. He then earned his bachelor's degree from Hamilton College in 1956. At Hamilton, he studied philosophy and French, and played basketball. In 1957, he earned a master's degree in philosophy from Harvard. He started working on his PhD, but family events brought him back to New York City. In 1958, he began teaching math at the Horace Mann School in the Bronx.
Civil Rights Movement Work
Moses's civil rights work began in 1960. He saw students marching for civil rights in Newport News, Virginia. This inspired him to become a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
Following the advice of civil rights leader Ella Baker, Moses started working in Mississippi in 1961. He became the director of SNCC's Mississippi Project. He traveled to places like Pike County to help African Americans register to vote. At that time, it was very hard for Black people to vote in Mississippi. Laws like poll taxes and literacy tests stopped them. Also, violence and unfair rules under Jim Crow laws made it dangerous to even try.
Moses faced a lot of danger and unfair treatment. He was beaten and arrested. He was the first African American to file charges against a white attacker in Amite County. However, an all-white jury found the man not guilty. Other activists around him were even murdered.
By 1964, Moses was a co-director of the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO). This group included major civil rights organizations like SNCC and NAACP. He was the main organizer for COFO's Freedom Summer Project. This project aimed to register many Black voters in Mississippi. It also planned education programs and a simpler way to register.
During Freedom Summer, three young volunteers were murdered. They were James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. This event scared many volunteers. Moses calmly spoke to them, explaining the risks. He told them they could go home if they wished, and no one would blame them. His leadership helped many volunteers stay and continue their work.
Moses became an important Black leader in the civil rights struggle. He believed in leadership that came from local communities. Even though his style was different from Martin Luther King Jr.'s, King admired Moses's contributions.
Moses helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). This group challenged the all-white Democratic Party delegates from Mississippi at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. The MFDP wanted their elected delegates to be seated instead. This challenge brought national attention to the civil rights struggle. However, the Democratic Party leaders prevented the MFDP delegates from voting. This decision deeply disappointed Moses and other SNCC activists.
In late 1964, Moses stepped down from his role in COFO. He felt his leadership had become "too strong." He wanted to empower others to become leaders. He then became involved in the effort to end the Vietnam War. He spoke at a large protest in Washington D.C. in 1965. He connected the anti-war movement to the civil rights struggle.
In 1966, Moses received a notice that he had been drafted into the military. He suspected this was unfair. He moved to Canada, then to Tanzania. He lived there from 1969 to 1976 with his wife and three of their children. In Tanzania, Moses taught math and worked for the Ministry of Education.
The Algebra Project
After returning to the United States, Moses finished his doctoral studies at Harvard. He started teaching high school math in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He learned that the school was not offering algebra, which he believed was very important.
In 1982, Moses received a special award called a MacArthur Fellowship. He used the money to create the Algebra Project. This project focuses on improving math education for minority students. He started with his own daughter's classroom. He also used Lanier High School in Jackson, Mississippi as a place to test new teaching methods. He got parents, teachers, and the community involved.
Moses saw math literacy as the next step in the civil rights struggle. He believed that getting a good education was a civil right, just like the right to vote. He said that education was still unfair for children from poorer families. Moses thought algebra was a "gatekeeper" subject. Mastering it was key for students to advance in math, technology, and science. Without it, college could be out of reach.
The Algebra Project helps students who struggle with math. It aims to prepare them for college-level math by the end of high school. At Lanier High School in 2006, more students in the Algebra Project passed the state math exam. This showed that the program helped students meet college requirements and get better jobs.
Since 1982, Moses expanded the Algebra Project to many more schools. He believed that solving education problems needed the same kind of community organizing that changed the South in the 1960s. The project also created the Young People's Project. This program helps students become young leaders and organizers. They use math to improve education and life in their communities.
In 2006, the Algebra Project received an award from the National Science Foundation. This was to help improve materials for Algebra I. More than 40,000 students in the U.S. have learned using this program.
Continued Work in Education
In 2001, Moses and journalist Charles E. Cobb Jr. wrote a book. It was called Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project. The book was about Moses's life and his work in civil rights and education. The New York Times said the book showed how his work on voting rights and algebra were part of the same long struggle for equality.
As of 2006, Moses continued to teach high school math. He taught in Jackson, Mississippi, and Miami, Florida. That year, he became a professor at Cornell University. He also taught a class at Princeton University as a visiting scholar.
He was recognized as a "Teaching hero" by The My Hero Project.
Death
Robert Parris Moses passed away on Sunday, July 25, 2021. His death was confirmed by staff from the Algebra Project.
Works
- Radical Equations—Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project (with Charles E. Cobb Jr.) (Beacon Press, 2001) ISBN: 0807031275
- Co-editor, Quality Education as a Constitutional Right—Creating a Grassroots Movement to Transform Public Schools (Beacon Press, 2010) ISBN: 0807032824
Legacy and Honors
- 1982, MacArthur Fellowship
- 1991, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Hamilton College
- 1997, War Resisters League Peace Award
- 1999, 6th Annual Heinz Award in the Human Condition
- 2001, chapter foundation member, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Mississippi
- 2001, Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship
- 2001, Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award
- 2001, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, Grinnell College
- 2002, James Bryant Conant Award
- 2004, Honorary Doctor of Laws, Princeton University
- 2005, Alphonse Fletcher Sr. Fellowship
- 2006, Honorary Doctor of Science, Harvard University
- 2007, John Dewey Prize for Progressive Education
- 2007, Honorary Degree, Swarthmore College
- 2016, Honorary Doctor of Science, Ohio State University
- 2016, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, University of Missouri
See also
