|
 The
8th Annual Lecture on Multiculturalism
Monday, February
4, 2002at
7:30 PM
Edwards Auditorium
Robert
Parris (Bob) Moses, Civil Rights Activist and Founder of the Algebra
Project , Monday February 4, 2001 at 7:30 pm
in Edwards Auditorium. Moses
will address the topic
"Civil Rights, Human Rights, and Multiculturalism."Born on January 23,1935, Moses earned a
B.A. degree from Hamilton (NY) College and M.A. degree in philosophy from
Harvard University in 1957. While
teaching mathematics at Horace Mann Middle School in New York City, he visited
Hampton in 1960, where he was inspired by black students participating in a sit
¨Cin campaign in nearby Newport News, VA. Upon returning to New York City, he
participated in a march organized by veteran civil rights activist Bayard Rustin.
At the suggestion of Rustin, Moses traveled to Atlanta to volunteer with
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the summer of 1960.
Subsequent discussions with SCLC staff member Jane Stembridge prompted
him to conduct a field trip to Mississippi to recruit students for the fall
conference critical to the birth of a new youth- oriented organization- The
Student Non-Violence Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
The legendary activist Ella Baker, the one time executive secretary of
SCLC, mentored Moses and the other founders of SNCC. The strategy of SNCC stressed grassroots initiatives,
cultivation of local leadership, and decentralized decision- making, departing
from the methods of more traditional civil- rights organizations.
At the invitation of local NAACP activist Amzie Moore, Moses returned
to
Mississippi in the summer of 1961, leaving teaching to commit to full ¨C time
work in the struggle for civil rights. As a Field Secretary for SNCC and Director of its Mississippi
Project, he emphasized voter registration as a means for empowering low-income
blacks in Mississippi. By 1962, he
had helped to found the Council of Federated Organization (COFO) to promote
collaboration between the various civil rights organizations. It has been
suggested that his two major contributions were his role in mobilizing the
Mississippi Freedom Summer Project of 1964 and in nurturing the development of
the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP). Through the Freedom Summer
Project, Moses, other SNCC activists, and local supporters brought hundreds of
college students to Mississippi to register voters and conduct alternative
schools. Through the MFDP, local
citizens and their supporters challenged the Mississippi Democratic Party
regulars at the 1964 Democratic Party regulars at the 1964 Democratic Party
National Convention in Atlanta City, NJ, sending a message to the state and the
nation that blacks valued the vote and were determined to exercise the rights
and freedom associated with full citizenship.
Stressing the moral authority
of their cause, the MFDP ultimately rejected the compromises extended to
them by
President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Democratic Party leaders. In their efforts
to impose the compromises, Democratic Party leaders and some MFDP allies
contradicted the bedrock principles for which SNCC fought in favor of a
media-driven, personality-centered, top-down approach to decision-making. The
success of both the Freedom Summer Project and the MFDP campaign was to be found
in the sense of affirmation experienced by black leaders in Mississippi and
their allies; and in the massive media recognition and public support brought
to their cause. However, a sense of betrayal by Democratic Party leaders
spread
through the SNCC and MFDP rank-and ¨Cfile. Further conflicted by the belief
that his own dominant presence within the movement was undermining the
independence of local leaders, Moses resigned and left Mississippi in late 1964.
After a period as a draft resister
against the Vietnam War, and as a math teacher in Tanzania in East Africa, Moses
began the second phase of his remarkable domestic civil rights career. The recipient of a prestigious Mac Arthur Fellowship in 1982,
he utilized the grant to lay the foundation for the Algebra
Project, a national program employing constructivist methods to
reinforce mathematical literacy as a means of enhancing college preparation and
participation. In his view,
proficiency in algebra was the key to participating in the evolving information
society of the 21st century, and to first-class citizenship. In many
instances, African Americans continue to be steered away from the mathematics
classes that lead to college, math, science, and engineering careers; to
high-level employment; and to civic participation.
By its
tenth year, the Algebra Project was reaching more than 9,000 youth across the
nation, winning accolades from the National Science Foundation. In 1992, Moses
and his former SNCC colleague, David J. Dennis, Sr. initiated the Delta Algebra
Project of Mississippi, eventually expanding the program to Louisiana, Arkansas,
and Kentucky.
Moses, along with former SNCC colleague,
Charles E. Cobb Jr., recently authored Radical Equations: Math Literacy and
Civil Rights. His accomplishments are chronicled in numerous books,
articles, and films. Among these accounts are two seminal histories of the civil
rights era, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-1963
(Simon and Schuster, 1989), and Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years,
1963-1965 (Simon and Schuster,
1997); a historical novel, The Children Bob Moses Led (Milkweed, 1995); a
biography, And Gently We Shall Lead Them: Robert Parris Moses and Civil
Rights in Mississippi (New York University, 1995); a dramatic film, Freedom
Song (Turner Network Television, 2000); and two documentary films, Freedom
On My Mind (California Newsreel, 1994) and Eyes On the Prize:
Mississippi: Is this America? 1962- 1964 ( Blackside, 1986). In addition to
the MacArthur grant, his many awards include a Heinz
Award in the category of the human condition; an Essence Magazine Award;
and a Margaret Chase Smith Award.
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Last updated:
02/15/2005
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