Harry "Spike" Moss is a community activist in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He has organized against

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

and "Minnesota racism". The Associated Press state that he is a "civil rights leader"; Moss describes himself as a "freedom fighter".

Life and activism

Moss was born in

Paris, Missouri Paris is a city and county seat of Monroe County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,161 at the 2020 census. History Paris was platted in 1831, and named after Paris, Kentucky, the native home of one of the first settlers, Mrs. James ...

, and was raised in the "

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 ...

South". Along with Mahmoud El-Kati and Verlena Matey-Keke, Moss helped co-found ''The Way'', a non-profit community center for Black youth. Moss ran the recreation department, organizing activities for youth living in Northside Minneapolis. Moss was the final director of ''The Way'' when it closed in 1984. ''The Way'' founders saw themselves as part of the

Black Power Black power is a list of political slogans, political slogan and a name which is given to various associated ideologies which aim to achieve self-determination for black people. It is primarily, but not exclusively, used in the United States b ...

movement. In 1992, Moss helped form ''United For Peace'', which brought gang members together with the

Minneapolis Police Department The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is also the largest police department in Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second-oldest police department in Minnesota ...

in an effort to decrease gang violence. The program was ended after the killing of MPD officer Jerry Haaf by members of the Vice Lords gang. Moss watched the verdict for the Derek Chauvin trial with

George Floyd George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was an African-American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd had used a counterfeit tw ...

's family, saying "we finally won one."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moss, Spike Living people Activists from Minnesota African-American activists 1946 births