Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of Growing Up Poor and Black in the Rural SouthThe unforgettable memoir of a woman at the front lines of the civil rights movement—a harrowing account of black life in the rural South and a powerful affirmation of one person’s ability to affect change. “Anne Moody’s autobiography is an eloquent, moving testimonial to her courage.”—Chicago Tribune Born to a poor couple who were tenant farmers on a plantation in Mississippi, Anne Moody lived through some of the most dangerous days of the pre-civil rights era in the South. The week before she began high school came the news of Emmet Till’s lynching. Before then, she had “known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was . . . the fear of being killed just because I was black.” In that moment was born the passion for freedom and justice that would change her life. A straight-A student who realized her dream of going to college when she won a basketball scholarship, she finally dared to join the NAACP in her junior year. Through the NAACP and later through CORE and SNCC, she experienced firsthand the demonstrations and sit-ins that were the mainstay of the civil rights movement—and the arrests and jailings, the shotguns, fire hoses, police dogs, billy clubs, and deadly force that were used to destroy it. A deeply personal story but also a portrait of a turning point in our nation’s destiny, this autobiography lets us see history in the making, through the eyes of one of the footsoldiers in the civil rights movement. Praise for Coming of Age in Mississippi “A history of our time, seen from the bottom up, through the eyes of someone who decided for herself that things had to be changed . . . a timely reminder that we cannot now relax.”—Senator Edward Kennedy, The New York Times Book Review “Something is new here . . . rural southern black life begins to speak. It hits the page like a natural force, crude and undeniable and, against all principles of beauty, beautiful.”—The Nation “Engrossing, sensitive, beautiful . . . so candid, so honest, and so touching, as to make it virtually impossible to put down.”—San Francisco Sun-Reporter |
Other editions - View all
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of Growing Up Poor ... Anne Moody Limited preview - 1992 |
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black ... Anne Moody Limited preview - 2004 |
Common terms and phrases
Adline ain't answered asked baby began better boys Burke called Canton Centreville church clothes coming cops couldn't couple crying Daddy decided didn't dollars don't door Essie Mae everything eyes face feeling felt finally finished five Freedom front gave George getting girls give gonna hands happened head heard hour inside Jackson Junior killed kitchen knew lady later leave living looked Mama mind minutes Miss Mississippi Moody morning move Negroes never night picked play Raymond rest Reverend running scared seemed seen sitting soon standing started stay stood stopped street Sunday talk tell things thought told took town tried trying turned waiting walked watch week whole Willis y'all