2002 -- H 6748 ======LC00855 ======STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2002 ______

H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N

THANKING ROBERT PARRIS (BOB) MOSES FOR HIS PARTICIPATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND'S EIGHTH ANNUAL LECTURE ON MULTICULTURALISM

Introduced By: Representatives Benson, and Carter

Date Introduced: January 10, 2002

Referred To: House read and passed

1 WHEREAS, Robert Parris Moses, a mathematics teacher in New York City, began his

2 career as a civil rights activist in 1960. While visiting Virginia, he was inspired by black students

3 at a sit-in. Mr. Moses returned to New York where he participated in a march organized by

4 veteran civil rights activist Bayard Rustin; and

5 WHEREAS, Mr. Moses went on to volunteer with the Southern Christian Leadership

6 Conference which ultimately gave birth to a new youth-oriented organization, the Student Non-

7 Violence Coordinating Committee that stressed grassroots initiatives, cultivation of local

8 leadership and decentralized decision-making; and

9 WHEREAS, In 1961, Mr. Moses left teaching to commit to full-time work in the struggle

10 for civil rights. His career in Mississippi, pivotal to the civil rights movement included

11 emphasiz ing voter registration as a means for empowering low-income blacks, promoting

12 collaboration between various civil rights organizations, mobilizing the Mississippi Freedom

13 Summer Project and the nurturing and development of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic

14 Party; and

15 WHEREAS, After a period as a draft resister against the Vietnam War and as a math

16 teacher in Tanzania in East Africa, Mr. Moses laid the foundation for the Algebra Project, a

17 national program employing constructivist methods to reinforce mathematical literacy as a means

18 of enhancing college preparation and participation; and

19 WHEREAS, By its tenth year, the Algebra Project was reaching more than 9,000 youth

20 across America, winning praise from the National Science Foundation. In 1992, Mr. Moses and a 1 former colleague initiated the Delta Algebra Project of Mississippi, eventually expanding the

2 program to Louisiana, Arkansas and Kentucky; and

3 WHEREAS, Mr. Moses has received numerous awards, including the prestigious

4 MacArthur Fellowship, a Heinz Award, an Essence Magazine Award and a Margaret Chase

5 Smith Award. His outstanding accomplishments are chronicled in numerous books, articles and

6 films; now, therefore be it

7 RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island and

8 Providence Plantations hereby extends our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Robert Parris

9 Moses for his remarkable commitment to the struggle for civil rights and first-class citizenship for

10 all. We also thank him for his participation at the University of Rhode Island's Eighth Annual

11 Lecture on Multiculturalism; and be it further

12 RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

13 transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Robert Parris Moses.

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