Civil rights activist, Bob Moses passes away at 86: What you need to know

Picture Courtesy: AP

Civil rights activist, who was shot and jailed in the 1960s, Bob Moses has died at the age of 86 according to a statement from NAACP President Derrick Johnson. He worked towards the desegregation movement as a Mississippi field director of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the civil rights movement.

Moses, who was born in New York City in 1935, grew up in Harlem. He earned a master's degree in philosophy from Harvard University in 1957. In 1982, he created ‘The Algebra Project’, which encouraged African-American students to attend college.

Following his death, The Algebra Project released a statement, "His transition to that higher level only inspires us all to love, struggle and live with and for our people as he did, as we continue to work to realize Bob's vision of "raising the floor of mathematics literacy" for all young people in the United States of America.”

He said in an interview, that he voted for the first time in 2008 for President Barack Obama. Recalling the incident he said, "I don't do politics, but I made sure to vote this time. Obama is the first person I really felt moved to vote for.”

The cause of his death was not released and so far no statement has been made regarding that by Moses’s family.