Robert Parris Moses: A Life in Civil Rights and Leadership at the Grassroots

By Laura Visser-Maessen

Book Overview

One of the most influential leaders in the civil rights movement, Robert Parris Moses was essential in making Mississippi a central battleground state in the fight for voting rights. As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Moses presented himself as a mere facilitator of grassroots activism rather than a charismatic figure like Martin Luther King Jr. His self-effacing demeanor and his success, especially in steering the events that led to the volatile 1964 Freedom Summer and the formation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, paradoxically gave him a reputation of nearly heroic proportions. Examining the dilemmas of a leader who worked to cultivate local leadership, historian Laura Visser-Maessen explores the intellectual underpinnings of Moses's strategy, its achievements, and its struggles.

This new biography recasts Moses as an effective, hands-on organizer, safeguarding his ideals while leading from behind the scenes. By returning Moses to his rightful place among the foremost leaders of the movement, Visser-Maessen testifies to Moses's revolutionary approach to grassroots leadership and the power of the individual in generating social change.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1469666502
• ISBN13: 9781469666501
• Release Date: May 2021
• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.54 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Powerful New History of Robert Parris Moses and his Role as Mississippi Movement and Algebra Project

All students of the American Civil Rights Movement will gain insight into the Mississippi Movement and the role of Bob Moses by this brilliant well-researched book by Laura Visser-Maessen. She goes deep into the work of Moses into building the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, its tragic defeat at the 1964 Democratic Convention, and Moses’ exile to Africa afterward and his heroic return as a MacArthur genius award winner and founder of the Algebra Project.