Robert Parris Moses (January 23, 1935 – July 25, 2021) was an American educator and civil rights activist known for his work as a leader of the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later, the Student National Coordinating Committee (SNCC, pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emer ...

(SNCC) on voter education and registration in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

during the Civil Rights Movement, and his co-founding of the

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), also referred to simply as the Freedom Democratic Party, was an American political party that existed in the state of Mississippi from 1964 to 1968 during the Civil Rights Movement. Created as t ...

. As part of his work with the

Council of Federated Organizations The Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) was a coalition of the major Civil Rights Movement organizations operating in Mississippi. COFO was formed in 1961 to coordinate and unite voter registration and other civil rights activities in the st ...

(COFO), a coalition of the Mississippi branches of the four major civil rights organizations (SNCC,

CORE Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (laboratory), a highly specialized shared research resource * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber ...

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

, SCLC), he was the main organizer for the

Freedom Summer Freedom Summer, also known as Mississippi Freedom Summer (sometimes referred to as the Freedom Summer Project or the Mississippi Summer Project), was a campaign launched by civil rights movement, American civil rights activists in June 1964 to r ...

Project. Born and raised in Harlem, he was a graduate of

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

and later earned a Master's degree in philosophy at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. He spent the 1960s working in the civil rights and

anti-war movements An anti-war movement is a social movement in opposition to one or more nations' decision to start or carry on an armed conflict. The term ''anti-war'' can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conf ...

, until he was drafted in 1966 and left the country, spending much of the following decade in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, teaching and working with the Ministry of Education. After returning to the US, in 1982, Moses received a

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

and began developing the Algebra Project. The math literacy program emphasizes teaching algebra skills to minority students based on broad-based community organizing and collaboration with parents, teachers, and students, to improve college and job readiness.

Early life

Robert Parris Moses was born January 23, 1935, in New York City. His parents, Gregory H. Moses, a janitor, and Louise (Parris) Moses, a homemaker, raised their three children in the public housing complex,

Harlem River Houses The Harlem River Houses is a New York City Housing Authority public housing complex between 151st Street, 153rd Street, Macombs Place, and the Harlem River Drive in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The complex, which cov ...

, with frequent visits to the public library. He graduated from

Stuyvesant High School Stuyvesant High School ( ) is a co-ed, State school, public, college-preparatory, Specialized high schools in New York City, specialized high school in Manhattan, New York City. The school, commonly called "Stuy" ( ) by its students, faculty, a ...

in 1952 and received his B.A. from

in 1956. At Hamilton he majored in philosophy and French and played basketball. In 1957, he earned an M.A. in philosophy at Harvard, and was working toward a PhD but his mother's death and father's hospitalization brought him back to New York City, and in 1958 began teaching math at the

Horace Mann School Horace Mann School (also known as Horace Mann or HM) is an American private, independent college-preparatory school in the Bronx, founded in 1887. Horace Mann is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League, educating students from the New Yo ...

in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

of New York City. Also in 1958, he was private tutor to singer

Frankie Lymon Franklin Joseph Lymon (September 30, 1942 – February 27, 1968) was an American rock and roll/rhythm and blues singer and songwriter, best known as the boy soprano lead singer of the New York City-based early rock and roll doo-wop group the Te ...

, of

The Teenagers The Teenagers were an American music group, most noted for being one of rock music's earliest successes, presented to international audiences by DJ Alan Freed. The group, which made its most popular recordings with young Frankie Lymon as lead ...

, and credited his experience visiting Black sections of numerous towns with the doo-wop group for his recognition of the emergence of a distinct urban Black culture scattered across the nation.

Civil rights movement

Moses described his civil rights activism starting in the spring of 1960, when he visited his uncle,

Hampton Institute Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missiona ...

professor of architecture William Henry Moses Jr. and witnessed Hampton students marching from the college to

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

as part of the

sit-in movement The sit-in movement, sit-in campaign, or student sit-in movement, was a wave of Sit-in, sit-ins that followed the Greensboro sit-ins on February 1, 1960, led by students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical Institute (A&T). Even though ...

. Moses went on to becoming field secretary for the

(SNCC). Following the direction of

Ella Baker Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986) was an African-American civil rights and human rights activist. She was a largely behind-the-scenes organizer whose career spanned more than five decades. In New York City and ...

, he began working in Mississippi, becoming director of the SNCC's Mississippi Project in 1961 and traveling to Pike County and Amite County, developing a network of grassroots activists to try to register black voters. Comprising a majority in both counties, despite many people leaving in the Great Migration in the first half of the century, they had been utterly closed out of the political process since 1890, by

poll taxes A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. ''Poll'' is an archaic term for "head" or "top of the head". The sen ...

, residency requirements, and subjective

literacy test A literacy test assesses a person's literacy skills: their ability to read and write. Literacy tests have been administered by various governments, particularly to immigrants. Between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were used as an effecti ...

s. It was nearly impossible for blacks to register and vote. After decades of violence and repression under

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

, by the 1960s, most blacks did not bother trying to register. In 1965, only one African American among 5500 in Amite County was registered to vote. Initiating and organizing voter registration drives as well as sit-ins and Freedom Schools, Moses pushed for the SNCC to engage in a "tactical nonviolence," a matter he discussed in an interview with

Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...

for the book '' Who Speaks for the Negro?''. Moses faced nearly relentless violence and official intimidation and was beaten and arrested in Amite County. He was the first African American to challenge white violence in the county, filing assault charges against his attacker. The all-white jury acquitted the man, and the judge told Moses he could not protect him, escorting him to the county line. Around Moses, others in the movement like Herbert Lee and witnesses like

Louis Allen Louis Allen (April 25, 1919 – January 31, 1964) was an African-American logger in Liberty, Mississippi, who was shot and killed on his land during the civil rights era. He had previously tried to register to vote and had allegedly talked to fe ...

were murdered. By 1964 Moses had become co-director of the

(COFO), an

umbrella organization An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and iden ...

for the major civil rights groups working in Mississippi (SNCC, CORE, NAACP, SCLC). A major leader with SNCC, he was the main organizer of COFO's

Project, which was intended to achieve widespread voter registration of blacks in Mississippi, and ultimately end racial disfranchisement. They planned education, organizing, and a simplified registration system to demonstrate African-American desire to vote. Moses was one of the calm leaders who kept the group focused. On June 21, as many of the new volunteers were getting settled and trained in nonviolent resistance, three were murdered:

James Chaney James Earl Chaney (May 30, 1943 – June 21, 1964) was an American civil rights activist. He was one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) civil rights workers murdered in Philadelphia, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux Klan on June 2 ...

, a local African American, and his two Jewish co-leaders Andrew Goodman and

Michael Schwerner Michael Henry Schwerner (November 6, 1939 – June 21, 1964) was an American civil rights activist. He was one of three Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) field workers murdered in rural Neshoba County, Mississippi, by members of the Ku Klux K ...

, both from New York City. The remaining volunteers were frightened, and Moses gathered them together to discuss the risks they faced. He said that now that they had seen first-hand what could happen, they had every right to go home, and no one would blame them for leaving. This was not the first murder of activists in the South, but the Civil Rights Movement had attracted increasing notice from the national media. Many African-American volunteers were angered that publicity appeared to be based on two of the victims being white Northerners. Moses helped ease tensions. The volunteers struggled with the idea of nonviolence, of blacks and whites working together, and related issues. Moses's leadership was a major cohesive factor for a number of volunteers staying. Moses became one of the influential black leaders of the civil rights struggle and had a vision of grassroots and community-based leadership. Although Moses' leadership style was different from Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

's, King appreciated the contributions that Moses made to the movement, calling them inspiring. Moses was instrumental in the organizing of the

, a group that challenged the all-white regular Democratic Party delegates from the state at the party's 1964 convention. Because the Democratic Regulars had for decades excluded African Americans from the political process in Mississippi, the MFDP wanted their elected delegates seated at the convention instead of the all-white Democratic delegation. Their challenge received national media coverage and highlighted the civil rights struggle in the state. Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic leadership nonetheless prevented any of the MFDP delegation from voting in the convention, giving the official seats to the Jim Crow regulars. Moses and the rest of the SNCC activists were profoundly disillusioned by this decision. Moses was also disturbed by the machinations of liberal Democrats, whom he had invited into COFO, to centralize the Council's decision-making, an effort that seemed to undermine the grassroots participatory democracy of SNCC. In late 1964, Moses resigned his role in COFO, saying later that his role had become "''too strong, too central, so that people who did not need to, began to lean on me, to use me as a crutch"'', which ran contrary to his organizing style that focused on empowering others to take on leadership roles. He temporarily dropped his last name, instead using Parris, his middle name, and began participating in the effort to end the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Speaking at the April 17, 1965, demonstration at the Washington Monument, Moses drew a connection between the anti-war effort and the civil rights struggle. As he became increasingly involved with the anti-war movement, he took a leave from SNCC to avoid conflict with members who did not share his views. Following a trip to Africa in 1965, Moses developed a conviction in the necessity of autonomous Black struggle and by 1966 he ceased working with white activists, even former SNCC activists. In 1966 Moses received a notice that he had been drafted, though he was five years too old for the age cutoff and suspected the intervention of government agents. He moved to Canada, then to

, where he and his wife Janet lived from 1969 to 1976 and had three of their four children. Moses worked as a math teacher as well as for the Ministry of Education.

Algebra Project

After President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

offered amnesty to draft resisters, Moses returned to the United States and to Harvard, completing doctoral work in philosophy. He began teaching high school math in a public high school in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, after learning from his daughter that the school was not offering algebra. In 1982 Moses received a MacArthur Fellowship. He used the award to create the Algebra Project, devoted to improving minority education in math, starting with his daughter's classroom. Moses also taught math for a time at Lanier High School in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

. He used the Lanier classroom as a laboratory school for developing methods and approaches for the Algebra Project, enlisting the support of parents, teachers, and the community in the project. For Moses, advancement in math literacy was the next phase of the civil rights struggle, guaranteeing the civil right to quality education as the Freedom Summer organizing has fought for the right to vote. "Education is still basically Jim Crow as far as the kids who are in the bottom economic strata of the country," he said in 2013. Moses believed that algebra in particular was a critical "gatekeeper" subject because mastering it was necessary in order for middle school students to advance in math, technology, and science; college was out of reach without it. The Algebra Project takes students who score the lowest on state math tests and aims to prepare them for college-level math by the end of high school by doubling up on math courses for the four years of high school. At Lanier High School in 2006, 55 percent of the students in the Algebra Project's curriculum passed the state exam on the first try, compared to 40 percent of students taught with the regular curriculum. More students at junior high school sites who followed the Algebra Project curriculum scored higher on standardized tests and continued to more advanced math classes than their schoolmates who followed the standard curriculum. Thus, they could better meet requirements for college admission and future entry into good jobs, as opposed to being tracked into low-paying, low-skill work. Since 1982, Moses expanded the Algebra Project to more schools, developing models that are sustainable and focused on students by building coalitions of stakeholders within the local communities, particularly historically underserved populations. ''I believe that solving the problem requires exactly the kind of community organizing that changed the South in the 1960s'', he told ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' in 2001. For example, the Algebra Project developed a cooperating project called Young People's Project, to help engage students in their learning process and their communities: "YPP uses mathematics literacy as a tool to develop young leaders and organizers who radically change the quality of education and quality of life in their communities so that all children have the opportunity to reach their full human potential." In October 2006, the Algebra Project received an award from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

to improve the development of materials for Algebra I. More than 40,000 students in the US have been taught using the program.

Continued work in education

In 2001, Moses and fellow activist and journalist Charles E. Cobb Jr. published ''Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project'', about Moses's life and work in civil rights and education. ''The New York Times'' described it: "If Chapter 1 of Mr. Moses's Mississippi odyssey was about voting, Chapter 2 is about algebra. They merge in his new book ... the themes – equality, empowerment, citizenship – ripple through like ribbons, tying the two experiences in the same long-term struggle." As of 2006, Moses taught high school math in

, and Miami, Florida. That year, he was named a Frank H. T. Rhodes Class of '56 Professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

. As a visiting scholar at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

, he taught an African American Studies class with Professor

Tera Hunter Tera Hunter is an American scholar of African-American history and gender. She holds the Edwards Professor of American History Endowed Chair at Princeton University. She specializes in the study of gender, race, and labor in the history of the Sou ...

in the Spring 2012 semester. He was identified as a Teaching hero by

The My Hero Project The My Hero Project is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 1995 by philanthropist Karen Pritzker, Jeanne Meyers and Rita Stern Milch that promotes the sharing of positive role models from around the world for the online digital story ...

Death

Moses died on Sunday July 25, 2021. His death was confirmed by Algebra Project staff but no details were provided. His funeral was held at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church in Cambridge.

Works

* ''Radical Equations—Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project'' (with Charles E. Cobb Jr.) (

Beacon Press Beacon Press is an American left-wing non-profit book publisher. Founded in 1854 by the American Unitarian Association, it is currently a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association. It is known for publishing authors such as Jame ...

, 2001) * Co-editor, ''Quality Education as a Constitutional Right—Creating a Grassroots Movement to Transform Public Schools'' (Beacon Press, 2010)

Legacy and honors

* 1982,

* 1991, Doctor of Humane Letters (Honorary), Hamilton College * 1997, War Resisters League Peace Award * 1999, 6th Annual

Heinz Award The Heinz Awards are individual achievement honors given annually by the Heinz Foundations, Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards each year recognize outstanding individuals for their innovative contributions in three areas: the Arts, the Eco ...

in the Human Condition * 2001, chapter foundation member,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, 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 Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

* 2016, honorary doctor of science, Ohio State University * 2016, honorary doctor of humane letters, University of Missouri

References

External links

SNCC Digital Gateway: Bob Moses
Documentary website created by the SNCC Legacy Project and Duke University, telling the story of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and grassroots organizing from the inside-out
9 part interview
at The Real News
Robert Moses's oral history video excerpts
The National Visionary Leadership Project
UVA Arts & Sciences Explorations in Black Leadership Video Interview "Influential People: Uncle Bill's encounter with racism"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moses, Bob 1935 births 2021 deaths African-American activists Activists from New York (state) American democracy activists Activists for African-American civil rights COINTELPRO targets Cornell University faculty Hamilton College (New York) alumni Harvard University alumni MacArthur Fellows American mathematics educators Mathematics writers People from Harlem Politicians from Manhattan Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee Stuyvesant High School alumni 21st-century African-American people