Coming of Age in Mississippi

Rating:
Summary: I love this book
Review: About 8 years ago, I decided to begin reading some classics and this was one of the first I chose. Because of it, I now like to read anything I can get my hands on that involves slavery or the racial problems of these past hundred and fifty years or so. The emotion that exudes from this book was, at times, overpowering. It was awesome and I wish I had read it earlier.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most important memoirs ever written...
Review: I had the privilige to read this book as part of curriculum for a fabulous Native/African-American Women's Studies coursem, two years ago. It was entitled "Locating Ourselves." What an appropriate title! This book definitely fit right into that description. "Coming of Age in Mississippi" is really the story of one brave, ambitious and dedicated young African-American woman's journey and experiences during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Anne must overcome great adversity at a young age, growing up poor, female and Black in the rural South. She makes a decision to dedicate herself to developing her mind, scholastically, and excels in school. This woman's dedication to education keys into other aspects of her life and experiences. Once Ms. Moody is exposed to some of the activism going on to encourage equal rights, as well as encouraging young African-Americans to register to vote, she jumps on board. She becomes part of SNCC, an organization that is a leader in the outreach movement to encourage the Black vote. Anne must come up against racism, sexism, threats and intense repercussions when she takes a stand for this kind of freedom of speech. She participates through her speeches and recruitment effots.

This book is truly an inspiration for people of any background. It is an especially timely novel, at this time, when every human right is being challenged in society, as well as in our government. Does our vote count for something? You can be sure it does. Don't ever take it for granted. We have to thank Anne Moody and people like her who worked to ensure that all people are given equal rights and equal say in important issues applicable to humanity.

Rating:
Summary: Great book on the Civil Rights Movement
Review: Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi is a reflection of the struggles she went through during the civil rights movement. It is an honest and inspirational novel, containing many of the famous events that occured during this time period. Because Moody holds nothing back while writing the story of her life, the reader can truely relate to her personality and struggles that she overcame. The book is broken down into four sections: Childhood, High School, College, and The Movement, all of which contain vivid descriptions of what life was like for a black female growing up in Mississippi. Strengths Moody brings to her novel include her use of emotion, which in turn makes the reader feel part of her story. You will laugh out loud as you picture some of the stories she tells such as getting baptized in a lake full of mud and manure as cows moo in the background. At times you will also want to cry as you understand the pain that many people went through such as being afraid to sleep at night or walk alone in their own neightborhood, all in attempt to get equality where it is today. Although she leaves the readers with a sense of hopelessness at the end, it is apparent that her work has made a huge impact for blacks and whites today. I think Moody concluded her book in that manner because she realized that although racial equality may get better, the races will never be truely equal.
I do recommend this book for anyone who is interested in The Civil Rights Movement, I read it for my college English class, and enjoyed reading about the people whom we had studied prior to starting this book. It also made the movement much more realistic.



Rating:
Summary: Coming of Age in Mississippi
Review: Growing up in Mississippi was not easy for any negro during the Civil Rights Movement. Anne Moody, born Essie May, was born and raised in Centreville, Mississippi. Her father left her family early in her life, and her mother supported the family through domestic and restaurant work. Food was not always readily available. By the time Anne was in the fourth grade she was working to contribute to supporting her family. Anne and her family moved from shack to shack until Mama met Raymond, and eventually he built them a house of their own. Anne was always a high achiever. She was a straight A student, and the best performer on the basketball team and tumbling squad. During the summer she would travel to relatives to work. Her first encounter with black-white hatred was just after Emmett Till was killed. She began to question why whites treated negros that way, and why the negros did nothing about it. Anne ran away from home due to a conflict with Raymond, her stepfather. She moved in with her father and stepmother. After high school she receieved a scholarship to Natchez college for basketball. Anne did not like Natchez and she applied for a scholarship at Tougaloo and received a full scholarship. This was when Anne really started to get involved with the movement. Anne joined the NAACP despite the fact that her mother told her not to get involved because it could potentially harm her family. Anne knew she had to be a part of the movement. Anne began participating in sit-ins, marches, riots, and many other demonstrations. She had gone to jail many times. She was a very inspirational leader.
This autobiography is very informative of life in Mississippi and all over the deep south for Negros. It gives vivid images of the atrocious activities that took place. It portrays the anger and frustration of the Negros when accomplishing their goals seems near impossible, and the disappointment when fellow Negros will not stand beside you in the fight.
I recommend this book to anyone who does not have much knowledge of what really happened in the United States of America, the 'land of the free.' It is truly moving. It will not leave you bored.

Rating:
Summary: Review for Dubek
Review: Anne Moody had to grow up fast and learn how to help provide for her family at a really young age. She had to learn the ways of the South and realize that life for the African-Americans were unfair and unjust. With all of the responsibility that she had to endure she still managed to make A's in school and get scholarships to college. While working with SNCC she risked her life to stand up for what she believed in.
The strengths in this book are the fact that she was thorough in telling about her experiences. The one think I didn't like was after she join in the Movement she didn't let the readers know about how the rest of her college experiences was like. I would have liked to have known this.
I would recomend this book to anyone who loves true stories and would like to read about African-American struggles in the 50's and 60's. This book would also be good for lesiure. I had to read this in my english class and I really enjoyed this book

Rating:
Summary: From Boring to Beautiful
Review: Anne Moody's 'Coming of Age in Mississippi' is a wonderful 'coming of age' story. We follow young Essie Mae as she grows up black in a segregated south of the 1960's. The book starts out quite slow. She begins with her earliest memories as a 4-year old living with her parents and 3-month old sister, Adeline. As she grows up, we experience with her the curiosity, confusion, and anger that comes with arbitrary racial hatred. Essie Mae walks through life fearful of every turn. As she becomes a teenager, and then a woman, she is angered by the treatment of blacks all over the south. Not only is she mad at the whites for treating blacks this way, but she is mad at the blacks for sitting back and taking it without doing anything about it. Essie Mae lives a very hard, a-typical life in the 1960's. However, going through these hard times made her become a very typical woman.