39 pages • 1 hour read
Coming Of Age In Mississippi
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Summary and Study Guide
Overview
First published in 1968, Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiography of Anne Moody, a black civil rights worker in the 1960s. The memoir starts with Moody (born Essie Mae Moody) as a young child, continues through her high school and college years, and finishes with Moody’s work in “the Movement” (civil rights movement). Narrated in the first-person and in a straightforward manner, the book unflinchingly describes poverty, segregated education, violence against black people, systemic racism, and efforts, both successful and unsuccessful, toward voting rights for blacks.
Born in rural Mississippi, Moody and her family live as sharecroppers on a white-owned plantation. After her parents separate, Moody’s mother becomes a single parent and rears Moody and her siblings by herself for several years. Moody starts working at age 9 to help her family while also going to school. Mama then meets her second husband, Raymond, who builds a house on land owned by his family.
Moody often wonders what makes white people different from black people, but Mama does not want to talk about it. After Emmett Till’s murder, Moody becomes very aware of the differences when Unlock all 39 pages of this Study Guide Plus, gain access to 8,900+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
