Anderson was a founding member of Harlem’s Black Panther Party, which prioritized the struggle for community control over schools. He was the founding chair of Sarah Lawrence College’s Black studies department in 1969; worked with other progressive educators to design the formation of SUNY Old Westbury in 1970; and has taught at Brooklyn College, City College of New York, New York University, and Rutgers University. He was a founding member of the Coalition for Public Education and the National Black Education Agenda, and remains active with the NYC Coalition to Finally End Mayoral Control of Schools.