Anne Moodys Coming of Age in the Mississippi - 1268 Words

At the start of the book a naà ¯ve, young and innocent African American girl lived life almost oblivious to the socially constructed issue of race. She did not see the difference of skin color and believed it was perfectly normal to socialize with whites. As far as she was concerned raced did not exist. This view was quickly altered and changed as the little girl named Essie-Mae Moody grew up fast in a society dominated by racial boundaries involving whites, blacks and a hierarchy of people who had parts of both. Essie’s first encounter with race which initiated her first change, from being oblivious to being confused, occurred early in life. When she was young, she was friends with and often played with white children. This all changed†¦show more content†¦This was the worst of my fears.†8 This fear was also given life because she was not aware of what criteria or actions could cause an African American to be killed. She came to the conclusion that being black was enough.9 â€Å"I was fifteen years old when I began to hate people. I hated the white men who murdered Emmitt Till and I hated all the other whites who were responsible for countless murders†¦and those I vaguely remembered from childhood.†10 The section of the book that this quote comes from shows an attitude toward race that Essie-Mae retains for a significant amount of time. Her feelings were characterized by anger. As the story progresses it comes to be known that Essie does not solely blame the whites. She considered the black community just as guilty for allowing the atrocities to occur. At this point in time Essie-Mae showed that she did not blame just one side of the racial spectrum; she blamed everyone for their part in contributing to the problem.11 Her anger eventually transformed into hatred as more atrocities occurred that involved the killings of African Americans. The major event that caused Essie-Mae Moody to hate was the murder of Samuel O’Quinn. This murder was the straw that broke the camel’s back in relation to Essie’s shift to saying she hated whites. His death reminded her of all the other killings she had buried away inside of her that were waiting to explode. She was even more angry that she wanted to take direct action against what wasShow MoreRelated Anne Moodys Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay1127 Words   |  5 PagesAnne Moodys Coming of Age in Mississippi Coming of Age in Mississippi is the amazing story of Anne Moodys unbreakable spirit and character throughout the first twenty-three years of her life. Time and time again she speaks of unthinkable odds and conditions and how she manages to keep excelling in her aspirations, yet she ends the book with a tone of hesitation, fear, and skepticism. While she continually fought the tide of society and her elders, suddenly in the end she is speaking asRead MoreAnne Moodys Autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi Essay1210 Words   |  5 PagesI couldnt believe it, but it was the Klan blacklist, with my picture on it. I guess I must have sat there for about an hour holding it, says Moody in her autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi. In Moodys response to the blacklist, one pervasive theme from her memoir becomes evident: though she participated in many of the same activist movements as her peers, Moody is separated from them by several things, chief among them being her ability to see the events of the 1960s through a wide, uncoloredRead MoreAnne Moody s Coming Of Age1189 Words   |  5 PagesAnne Moody is the author of Coming of Age in Mississippi which was originally published in 1968. Anne Moody is a famous African American Mississippi author who was born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi on September 15, 1940. She was the eldest of nine children born to Fred and Elnire Moody. While growing up in Mississippi, Moody attended a segregated school where she was an outstanding scholar. Moody cleaned houses in order to keep food on the table and clothes on her family members’ backs. In 1961Read MoreAnne Moody s Coming Of Age881 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial, 1968. Print.† Anne Moody was a determined, educated, and an inspiring civil rights activist who was born in Gloster, Mississippi. Born on September 15th, 1940-passed away February 5th, 2015 Anne Moody dedicated her life to making the Un ited States a better place for not only African American’s, but pleaded for equality amongst all races as well. Awarded best book of the year in 1969 by the National Library Association, Anne Moody writesRead MoreComing Of Age Throughout Mississippi By Anne Moody1206 Words   |  5 PagesAnne Moody’s, â€Å"Coming of Age in Mississippi† is an autobiography of hers that depicts the time of injustice, racial discrimination, oppression and the hardships African Americans dealt with during this time of inequality and how it led to Civil Rights Movement. Anne Moody’s overall life experience since her young age of 4, till her age of 24 of the movement, greatly shows the struggles of the time with uses on her emotional experiences and her analyzing skills of her time which did not fail to catchRead MoreEssay about The Expansion of the Great Black Migration1253 Words   |  6 Pages Anne Moody: Coming of Age during the Great Black Migration Reviewing the life of a young girl to a woman in Wilkerson County, Mississippi, Coming of Age in Mississippi is an Autobiography written by the civil rights activist Anne Moody. Raised in the 1940s, Anne Moody experienced a point in time where Black codes and Jim Crow laws hindered the expansion of black rights in Southern parts of the United States. Seen to most as an eye opening autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi is AnneRead MoreHistory Essay Review756 Words   |  4 PagesTHE UNITED STATES: 1865 TO THE PRESENT Writing Assignments / Midterm Exams and Book Discussion Section Required Texts: * Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi (Random House, 1992). ISBN: 9780440314882 Anne Moody was born on September 15, 1940, in Wilkinson County, Mississippi. Coming ofAge in Mississippi is an autobiographical book about life in Mississippi, the struggle of African Americans in the state and in the South, the life of a black child and woman in the South, and the roleRead MoreAnne Moody s Coming Of Age Essay1088 Words   |  5 PagesAnne Moody, a black activist in the twentieth century, wrote an autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, which illustrated how life was like growing up poor and black in the rural south. She wrote in details of her life living in the racist society and what it meant to be black in the South twentieth century. Readers were able to understand her personal thoughts as well as her memories of the fight growing up in the south and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Moody grew up with aRead MoreAnne Moody s Coming Of Age During Mississippi And Non Violent Vs. Violent Protest For Civil Rights1640 Words   |  7 PagesSamuel Co nner Professor M. Du Bois HIST1025-002 October 30, 2015 Dreamers Instead of Leaders: Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi and Non-Violent vs. Violent Protest for Civil Rights The American Civil Rights Movement in the late 1950s and 1960s generated massive international following and controversy, which made the movement one of the most important in U.S. history. The movement’s legacy can still be felt today, with the positive aspects, such as voting rights to African Americans and wideRead MoreComing of Age in Mississippi vs. The Jungle Paper1039 Words   |  5 PagesComing of Age in Mississippi vs. The Jungle Paper There is an argument that states that Anne Moodys tale in Coming of Age in Mississippi is a more optimistic tale then that of Jurgis Rutkis in The Jungle and vice versa. This is not the case. When you take the time to analyze both story, you come to find that both have the same pessimistic core. The only difference is the character Jurgis was optimist throughout most of the beginning despite his circumstances yet in the end he loses all hope