MLK Speaker: Robert Moses
By ABBY FOSTER ’19
On Wednesday, January 9th, the students and faculty of Milton’s upper and middle schools had the phenomenal opportunity to speak to civil rights activist Robert Moses, this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day speaker. The assembly was formatted like a fireside chat, with students Lucheyla Celestino ‘19 and Pierce Wilson ‘19 asking Moses questions they’d prepared in advance.
Moses has had a long and incredibly impactful career as an activist. Born in 1935, he joined the SNCC— Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee—as the group’s field secretary. Moses was in charge of the Mississippi Project in 1961 and worked to register black voters in the south. He was a key figure in 1964’s Freedom Summer, which was “intended to achieve widespread voter registration of blacks in Mississippi, and ultimately, end racial disenfranchisement,” according to freedom50.org. The Freedom Summer was a time of heavy racial violence in Mississippi, with activists being jailed, beaten, or killed. Additionally, he helped create the Freedom Democratic Party, a group intent on giving political power to the disenfranchised black minority in Mississippi.
Moses has also worked as a teacher; after receiving a MacArthur Fellowship in 1982, he created The Algebra Project with the intent to improve the education of minorities in math. In 2006, the project received an award from the National Science Foundation— “The program reaches tens of thousands of students nationwide,” the Milton Academy website notes. Additionally, he taught in Tanzania, working for the Ministry of Education there. He’s been the recipient of several awards, such as the Heinz Award for the Human Condition, the Puffin/Nation Prize for Creative Citizenship, and the Margaret Chase Smith American Democracy Award.
In the assembly, Moses reflected on his work, aided by Wilson’s and Celestino’s questions. During one particularly memorable moment, he asked the audience to repeat after him as he recited the preamble to the Constitution. “What does it mean to be among ‘we the people?’ What does it mean to be a citizen of this country?”, he asked.
The assembly on Wednesday wasn’t the only event the school is hosting in honor of MLK day; the OMCD is hosting a series of events for the school’s Martin Luther King Jr. week that will begin on Monday, January 14th, and culminate in a brunch on January 21st from 10 am to 12 pm. Those who want to attend the brunch should register by this Friday, January 11th.
Bob Moses in Fireside Chat with students. Photo courtesy of Ilan Rodriguez.