Andrew Goodman Foundation honors Perry
Ravi K. Perry
A Mississippi State University political scientist is among 50 recognized recently by the Andrew Goodman Foundation.
Ravi K. Perry is a selection for the New Jersey-based organization's 2015 Hero Citizens list that recognizes individual efforts to advance voting rights and social justice.
He is an assistant professor in the political science and public administration department, where he also is the John C. Stennis Scholar for Municipal Government.
The foundation is a memorial to the young civil rights worker who was murdered with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner while volunteering in Mississippi during the 1964 "Freedom Summer" drive to register more black voters.
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and Selma, Alabama, voter registration marches, the foundation is identifying 50 "steps forward" taken by Perry and others it designates as Hero Citizens.
Perry serves on the foundation's Millennial Advisory Committee that works to deepen relationships with and encourage public service among members of the millennial generation -- generally, persons born from 1981-97.
A Toledo, Ohio, native, Perry is a University of Michigan graduate who went on to receive master's and doctoral degrees from Brown University, all in political science. He is editor of "21st Century Urban Race Politics: Representing Minorities as Universal Interests," an examination of efforts by African American, Latino and Asian mayors to represent the interests of minorities in historically white U.S. cities.
Gregory Dunaway, dean of MSU's College of Arts and Sciences, said Perry is an excellent selection as a "Hero Citizen."
"The College of Arts and Sciences is proud of Dr. Perry, not only for his significant contributions to teaching and scholarship, but also for his commitment to principles of equality and justice for all people and his willingness to put commitment into action," Dunaway said.
Perry also currently serves as vice president of the National Association for Ethnic Studies; secretary of the Section on Race, Ethnicity and Politics of the American Political Science Association; and is a member of the executive council with the National Conference of Black Political Scientists.
He is a frequent blogger with the Huffington Post's Gay Voices section and holds a distinction of being among the first openly gay branch presidents of color in the history of the NAACP. For more biographical information, visit www.pspa.msstate.edu/about/faculty/staff.php?id=rkp81.
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Allison Matthews | Public Affairs
