Radical Equations: Civil Rights from Mississippi to the Algebra Project
By Robert P. Moses with Charles E. Cobb Jr. (Beacon Press, 2001)
For me, education politics have always been about how we can use schools and academic preparation to radically transform communities. One book in particular speaks to the essence of this — of who I am and why I do what I do. That book is Radical Equations by the great Bob Moses.
This book is about how Moses’ experience as a civil rights organizer in the Mississippi Delta during the height of the movement shaped him to design a vision for teaching middle school algebra as a gateway to political empowerment. Moses shows how Black empowerment and the enlightenment of Black students can reinforce one another in a way that radically changes our society for the better.
My first job as an educator was as an inner-city middle school tutor in Atlanta, Georgia. Now, I’m a political professor teaching courses about democracy and education policy, and in the beautiful mind of Bob Moses, my life makes sense.
I’m forever grateful to him.
This article appears in the May 2023 issue of Kappan, Vol. 104, No. 8, p. 67.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonathan E. Collins
Jonathan E. Collins is an assistant professor of political science and education at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, the associate director of the Teachers College, Columbia University Center for Educational Equity, and the founder and director of the School Board and Youth Engagement (S-BYE) Lab.
