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Coming of Age in Mississippi: an autobiography

by Anne Moody, 1940-

4.09 of 5 stars 4.09 · rating details · 5,382 ratings · 352 reviews

NOTE: No ISBN is present in the book itself nor is there one listed in the LOC Online Catalog record of this book. The publisher and publication year are the same as the LOC record.

Hardcover , 348 pages

Published 1968 by Dial Press

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Jun 16, 2015 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books , bio-and-memoirs , history , race-relations , poverty , african-american , shelf-inflicted

Posted at Shelf Inflicted

I recently read Kathryn Stockett’s The Help and while I enjoyed this story tremendously, I wanted to read something that was less uplifting, more realistic, and told from the perspective of an African-American. Anne Moody’s powerful memoir was the perfect choice.

This is a well-told and fascinating story about the author's life growing up in rural Mississippi, and her fight against racism. Her story is chronologically told, from the author's youth in rural Mississippi, h ...more

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Jan 21, 2008 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: african-american-lit-and-history , readinglist1

Anne Moody's autobiography is a very matter-of-factly told tale of, as the title indicates, growing up in Mississippi. Particularly, Moody reveals the difficulties inherent in growing up poor and black in Mississippi in the mid-twentieth century.

The first half of the book is devoted to her childhood and high school years and is at times somewehat uninteresting (I don't really care about her winning Homecoming Queen, for instance), but it does show really clearly the depths of poverty that many Anne Moody's autobiography is a very matter-of-factly told tale of, as the title indicates, growing up in Mississippi. Particularly, Moody reveals the difficulties inherent in growing up poor and black in Mississippi in the mid-twentieth century.

The first half of the book is devoted to her childhood and high school years and is at times somewehat uninteresting (I don't really care about her winning Homecoming Queen, for instance), but it does show really clearly the depths of poverty that many African American families descended to in the absence of real freedom and real jobs. Despite my hesitations about the first half of the book, those personal elements that I find less than interesting are not unimportant to the development of the latter part of the book. Because of the audience's knowledge of Anne Moody's inner life and personal trials and triumphs, readers are better able to identify with her and to see her struggles as real, rather than exaggerated or specific to her alone.

The second half of the book is much more interesting. When she goes away to college, she gets involved with the NAACP, CORE, and the SNCC and begins her political work. During and after college, she takes part in sit-ins, helps to organize voter registration drives, and spends a year working in Mississippi despite poverty, hunger, and continual death threats. The chapters that tell this part of her story serve as a valuable document of the practical elements of the Civil Rights movement. It's easy to hear of Martin Luther King, Jr., and to read Malcolm X's autobiography and to get caught up in the grand ideas of the Civil Rights movement, meanwhile forgetting about the grassroots organization required to support those big ideas and overlooking all the other people involved in the movement. The courage of those willing to risk their lives and their sanity in order to help create a better world is undeniable, and Anne Moody proves herself to be one of those courageous people who give hope to the rest of us.

However, the book does not end on an optimistic note. Published in 1968, Moody's autobiography only reaches 1964. This is significant because at the end of the book Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., are still alive, but by the time the book was published, Malcolm X had been assassinated and Martin Luther King, Jr., had been recently assassinated or would be soon (depending on when in 1968 the book was published). This reflects a significant change in the political climate and in the tone of the Civil Rights movement between the events described and the publication of the book. Moody uses this shift to help make her political argument. She has said that she saw herself as an activist, not a writer, when she wrote this book, and the conclusion of the autobiography proves this. The Anne Moody of 1964 speaks to the audience of 1968 to question the efficacy of nonviolent methods and the value of appealing to the federal government for help (when their policies and practices have caused many of the problems and continued to cause social and economic inequities even when the laws regarding segregation were changed) and to call attention to the necessity for all people to keep working toward a solution (not just public figures or middle-class blacks). The final lines are filled with doubt and, in their doubt and disillusionment, force the reader to evaluate his or her own confidence or doubt. Is Moody right to doubt the movement? Is she right to wonder whether going to Washington to protest will create change? And if she is right, then what should be done? Her book is a blunt reminder of the people who live in poverty and suffer the most from racism (whether that racism comes from individuals or the government) and a call to action that insists that talk is not enough. ...more

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Nov 10, 2012 Larry Bassett rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: southern-writers , nonfiction , memoir

Coming of Age in Mississippi was first published in 1968. The author, born in 1940, is six years older than I am so her life is relatively contemporaneous with mine, a factor that intrigues me although our lives are not at all the same other than that calendar years overlap. In 1968: the war in Vietnam is fully underway and politically divisive in the U.S.; Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated in Memphis; Robert Kennedy is assassinated in San Francisco; Black power salute of raised fist at Oly ...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Judy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bio-memoir , mississippi , non-fiction , 2013-reads , usa

Words that come to mind after reading this book....compelling, fascinating, obsessively drawn into, ultra-honest.

Coming of Age in Mississippi published in 1968, but it could have been published 2008 as far as I'm concerned because I felt like I was there with Anne Moody. Outhouses, walking to school, riding buses from town to town, beehive hairdos, who cares? I was there and hardly noticed those things.

I found this book to be a motivating story of how a poor woman rose above her circumstances ...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Doreen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A friend returned from a trip to Mississippi and bought me this book during her visit there. I looked forward to reading it because it promised an interesting first-hand perspective, that of Anne Moody, an insider in the civil rights movement or, as Sen. Edward Kennedy stated, "A history of our time, seen from the bottom up." I was greatly disappointed because it offered little insight.

The autobiography often read like a catalogue of events: I did this and then I did this and then. . . From my s A friend returned from a trip to Mississippi and bought me this book during her visit there. I looked forward to reading it because it promised an interesting first-hand perspective, that of Anne Moody, an insider in the civil rights movement or, as Sen. Edward Kennedy stated, "A history of our time, seen from the bottom up." I was greatly disappointed because it offered little insight.

The autobiography often read like a catalogue of events: I did this and then I did this and then. . . From my studies and readings, I'm familiar with the facts of what happened; I expected to read about the impact of the events. It would have been interesting to read about how she felt, especially during events like the Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in. Only 3 1/2 pages are devoted to this protest, and the focus is on what everyone did, not on her feelings at the time. Being a participant, Moody could have added to the historical record by describing personal reactions, thereby increasing the reader's understanding and arousing his/her empathy. Her account is the equivalent of a newspaper story.

When there is an attempt to describe her feelings, it is not very revealing. She does faint a lot: "Everything around me went black" (387) and "my head began to spin" (402). Other reactions to situations are to move slowly or not at all: "It took me about an hour to change my uniform" (388) and "I sat there for a while with my face buried in my hands" (414).

There are many contradictions in the book. She makes statements like, "if [the white teachers] were at all like the whites I had previously known, I would leave the school immediately" (267). This statement totally ignores previous comments: "I thought of how nice these [white] people were to us . . . [They] treated me like I was their daughter. They were always giving me things and encouraging me . . . " (59). Summarizing her first experiences at working for whites, she says, "The five I had worked for so far had been good to me" (118).

Her treatment of her family is likewise contradictory. With her sister she moves into an apartment and then leaves her to cover the costs: "We had just moved into that apartment, we owed at least one hundred dollars on the furniture, and she couldn't take care of those bills alone" (399). She admits to "hat[ing] to run out on Adline" (399), but she does it nonetheless. Then, when Adline does not attend Anne's graduation, Anne says, "She had lied and said that she would come to the graduation" (419), although Adline had made no such promise when she spoke about attending the ceremony (400).

"Publisher's Weekly" praised Moody for telling her story "without a trace of see-what-a-martyr-am-I" but I found she could be full of self-pity. She talks about her exhaustion and having to wear the same clothes all day and losing "'about fifteen pounds in a week'" (324). She is upset that no family member attends her college graduation: "'Here I am,' I thought, 'alone, all alone as I have been for a long time'" (415 - 416). She repeatedly bemoans the fact that she can't go home, totally disregarding the fact that she was the one who chose to sever ties with her family: "'These people just ain't no damn good! Everybody in this fuckin' town ain't no good. I'm gonna leave this goddamn town right now'" (210). Incidentally, after this tirade, she complains that her stepfather is "'running around the house cursing all the time'" (214).

Moody can be admired for some candor in the book. Blacks are not viewed as totally innocent; for example, she decries the treatment her mother receives from her second husband's family "for no reason at all than the fact that she was a couple of shades darker than the other members of their family. Yet they were Negroes and we were also Negroes. I just didn't see Negroes hating each other so much" (59). Several times she mentions her frustration with the apathy of the people she is trying to register for the vote. She is present for Martin Luther King's speech in Washington, but she dismisses it: "I sat on the grass and listened to the speakers, to discover we had 'dreamers' instead of leaders leading us. Just about every one of them stood up there dreaming. Martin Luther King went on and on talking about his dream. I sat there thinking that in Canton we never had time to sleep, much less to dream" (335).

There is no doubt that Blacks suffered under the Jim Crow laws, but some of Moody's descriptions seem over-the-top. The arrest of protesters in Jackson and the presence of police dogs, though they "were not used" (298), prompt her to compare the situation to Nazi Germany. Policemen are compared to Nazi soldiers (305) and a fairgrounds detention centre is called a "concentration camp" (360).

The writing style is tedious to say the least. The repeated use of short, simple sentences becomes very monotonous: "I was there from the very beginning. Jackie Robinson was asked to serve as moderator. This was the first time I had seen him in person. . . . Jackie was a good moderator, I thought. He kept smiling and joking. People felt relaxed and proud" (285). Where did Publisher's Weekly find "good writing"?!

Moody has a story worthy of telling, but it could have been more effectively told. As is, it is a tedious read which details mundane events and omits the personal emotions that would have made the book a very compelling read.

...more

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Jan 20, 2015 Kressel Housman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoir , history , non-fiction , the-sixties

My interest in the civil rights movement was piqued recently from Remembering America , the memoir of JFK’s and LBJ’s speechwriter. Since that book gave a top-down look at the origin of civil rights legislation, I wanted the bottom-up viewpoint of someone who participated in the movement. I knew of this book because it was recommended (though not assigned) in a History of the Sixties class I took back in college. The professor praised it so highly, I was able to remember the name “Anne Moody” the My interest in the civil rights movement was piqued recently from Remembering America , the memoir of JFK’s and LBJ’s speechwriter. Since that book gave a top-down look at the origin of civil rights legislation, I wanted the bottom-up viewpoint of someone who participated in the movement. I knew of this book because it was recommended (though not assigned) in a History of the Sixties class I took back in college. The professor praised it so highly, I was able to remember the name “Anne Moody” these twenty-odd years later.

To borrow a slogan from a different 1960’s movement, “The personal is political,” so it’s fitting that this is a personal memoir. For the first 250 pages, Ms. Moody tells about her childhood and adolescence in the segregated south. Her personal story may not have been typical, but it does exemplify one young girl’s struggle to rise above poverty and prejudice in order to get an education. Ms. Moody was smart, hard-working, and determined. It’s impossible to read this without admiring her.

The last quarter of the book is all about the movement. Among other things, Ms. Moody participated in the famous sit-in at Woolworth’s in Jackson (see picture below) and was beaten up for it. If there’s anything that this book made clear, it was the violence of the white backlash. I’m amazed that so many civil rights activists, black and white alike, had the courage to go on fighting in the face of death threats, beatings, lynchings, and bombings. I was sympathetic to her family members who begged her to stop. After all, she wasn’t just putting herself in danger, but them, too. And yet, on the other side, I could see why Ms. Moody questioned Dr. King’s teachings of non-violence. Who wouldn’t be enraged at the bombing of a church that killed four innocent black girls? And those are just the well-known murders.

I was a little disappointed that the book did not mention the Civil Rights Act of 1964 at all. It did mention JFK’s assassination. But LBJ was at the nadir of his disfavor with the public when the book was published, so perhaps Ms. Moody had nothing good to say about him at that point. I wonder what she’d say today.

This book was a fast, absorbing, and informative read, though I would not say it is the definitive book on the civil rights movement. It is exactly what I was looking for initially: the perspective of one person on the ground. Nor is it a rose-colored account; at times, it is downright raw. But the personal is political, and for that reason it’s simultaneously a slice of history and a lesson in the values of bravery and self-discipline.

...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Jennifer (aka EM) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

caveat - I stopped about 2/3rds of the way. The style was so emotionally flat that it "evened out" the horror of the racism she was enduring, and the events she was witnessing, with the effect of almost sanitizing them. This was compounded by Moody coming across as self-centred (at least) and arrogant (at worst). The reconciliation scene with her mother was a case in point: she acknowledged she had behaved horribly but then ... kept behaving horribly, and with the shallowest, most egotistical ex ...more

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Apr 27, 2008 Andy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“The revolution will put you in the driver's seat” (Gil Scott-Heron).

As a child in the United States, I was confronted every single February with what I thought was considered to be the civil rights movement. Through various novels I learned about slavery and the conditions on plantations around the world. I was taught that African-American's were given the right to vote in the United States in 1870 with the Fifteenth amendment but faced endless struggles actually making it to the ballots for th “The revolution will put you in the driver's seat” (Gil Scott-Heron).

As a child in the United States, I was confronted every single February with what I thought was considered to be the civil rights movement. Through various novels I learned about slavery and the conditions on plantations around the world. I was taught that African-American's were given the right to vote in the United States in 1870 with the Fifteenth amendment but faced endless struggles actually making it to the ballots for the next 80+ years. I was taught that on August 28, 1963 a huge rally took place in Washington DC and with the phrase “I have a dream” America suddenly woke up and men were made equal. Most libraries and bookstores have entire sections dedicated to the civil rights movement and African-American literature, so when given the task to read another book on the civil rights, this one an autobiography, I found myself saying “So what? How is this going to be any different?”

Coming Of Age in Mississippi is brutal, that's how. It's not brutal in the way of painting startling images in my mind, hoping and praying they aren't as graphic as I picture them. Instead it's filled with brutal commentary, the likes of which has never been shown to me. Anne Moody remembers her time growing up with great detail and she intends to retell this time exactly how it occurred, even at the risk of alienating herself from the civil rights movement the rest of us are taught.

One of the reasons that Coming Of Age In Mississippi succeeds the way it does is because it operates like a story. Anne Moody keeps her tones truthful and real throughout her time growing up and well up into her participation within the civil rights movement. Though her description of her time in Canton, Mississippi are the most telling and effective parts of her story, it is the events that lead her to Canton that perhaps bring a light to the Civil Rights Movement as well or better than other literature I have read. However, the thing that I took away from Moody's story of her early life in Mississippi was not the divide between blacks and whites, but between blacks and other blacks, especially seen from her step-father's family towards her and her mother, “I just didn't see Negroes hating each other so much” (Moody 60). It is through this feeling that Moody especially feels from the “Yellows” that I begin to see the Civil Rights Movement in a bit of a new light. It did not come to be with everyone on the same page, to fight against the oppression at the hands of whites. The Civil Rights Movement illustrates an event that came to be because it was a chance for these same African-Americans to finally unite. Anne tells the stories of her mother trying to please her mother-in-law Miss Pearl, and failing time and again because she was “just a couple shades darker” (60). This spurs more than anything Moody's leap headfirst into the Movement. She is tired of blacks hating blacks, and more than anything wants to change that. Tired of the jealousy that runs through those who have nothing to grab onto, Moody realizes that is not only the whites who are sick, but her black brothers and sisters as well.

Throughout the pages of Coming Of Age In Mississippi Anne Moody keeps the reader engaged through her miraculous life story. She paints herself in an accurate mode as a woman to be admired, someone we can all learn from. However, it is towards the end of the book when Moody makes a sudden realization that is going to make the biggest difference in the Civil Rights Movement yet. When speaking to teen-agers back in Canton, she sees something in them that she has been looking for in the older folks she had been working with for years. When she makes this realization that “They felt the power to change things was in themselves” (371), Anne realizes that everything she has worked for looks like it is going to pay off soon. It is the next step in the story, to be continued. More than anything, Coming Of Age In Mississippi is a story about a society in the midst of evolution, not revolution. It was a long time coming for Anne Moody and though she might not be a part of the change that is about to occur, she helped lead people to that step. If anything is to be learned from Moody's story it is that if we can make a difference as individuals, we will then learn to make a difference as communities. The revolution came because of the evolution of thousands of other Anne Moody's around the country, thousands who “put themselves in the driver's seat.”
...more

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Oct 21, 2007 Jenny.p rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I recently re-read this book, remembering it as one of the most important books in my life and the book that ultimately led to my decision to major in history in undergrad. and focus on Southern history. While it is hard to criticize this book because Moody's life trials are so profound, I found myself growing annoyed with this Moody on this second read; she is consistently self-absorbed and narcissistic throughout. To the point where her stories of activist work in the Civil Rights struggle too ...more

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Mar 13, 2015 Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-was-there-books , memoirs

I was curious to read this book. Born white and working class in the Midwest in 1962, the Civil Rights struggle didn't really affect me personally, and we heard little about it. "Demonstrations" and sit-ins were held in other places--pretty far away, when you live in a small rural town. It was something "college kids" did on weekends "to make trouble" according to my southern-born father. I never saw a black person close enough to speak to until I was in middle school. There simply weren't any a I was curious to read this book. Born white and working class in the Midwest in 1962, the Civil Rights struggle didn't really affect me personally, and we heard little about it. "Demonstrations" and sit-ins were held in other places--pretty far away, when you live in a small rural town. It was something "college kids" did on weekends "to make trouble" according to my southern-born father. I never saw a black person close enough to speak to until I was in middle school. There simply weren't any around where I lived. On the surface, her experience would appear alien to anything I lived.

However, Anne Moody tells her story in a way I could relate to: feeling like an outsider in her own family, deeply marked by poverty and emotional isolation growing up. She desperately wants her family to be a supportive network, but unfortunately it isn't; her father and mother split when she is a small child, and her mother's common-law husband dislikes Moody. I wonder, though, about the passages that describe how he turned against her when she was in her teens. Did he really not touch her? As an abuse survivor myself, my inner radar tingled when reading these passages; perhaps she wrote it this way to avoid hurting her mother? That's what it seemed like to me. Even her extended family (grandmother, aunts etc) tend to turn away from her, seeing her as a "troublemaker" or simply unreasonable in her demands for a different life. She is, after all, black and a woman in 1950s Mississippi (and later New Orleans). For the adults around her, her expectations can reach no farther than domestic service, marriage (or not) and babies.

No wonder, then, that Moody threw herself heart and soul into the Civil Rights Movement. She needed a cause, a purpose to her life that could make her feel she was making a difference, not just for herself but for the larger community. The people involved in the Movement become her "family", as described toward the end of the narrative, providing what little support she had. The end of her story feels cut short, as the members of her cell join others on the way to another march, but by this time Moody's physical and emotional health were flagging after months of short food and sleep and overexertion. She felt jaded and cynical, and then berated herself with feelings of guilt--guilt that her efforts weren't making a difference to the beatings and killings, and guilt that she was so tired she just wanted to quit. But where could she go but on?

The narrative ends with the phrase: "I wonder. I wonder."

So do I. ...more

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Feb 26, 2009 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

EVERYONE needs to read this book. It's a true story of a young civil-rights activist. After she wrote the book, which you will not be able to put down once you start, she went into seclusion because many people bashed her for writing her story. It's heart-wrenching and hopeful. Anne Moody's courage is obvious and she never asks for your sympathy. You will learn so much from this book.

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Jan 11, 2015 Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: african-american , memoirs , united-states , 4-stars , best-10-books-read-in-2014

I first heard this book recommended as an alternative to The Help: a memoir about the segregated South and the civil rights movement, written by a black woman who became an activist. After reading it, I consider it an excellent alternative to all those books about the segregated South written by white people – you know the ones, with their cardboard too-good-to-be-true characters who exist to be victims. You get much more texture and nuance, a far more credible picture of individuals and their c I first heard this book recommended as an alternative to The Help: a memoir about the segregated South and the civil rights movement, written by a black woman who became an activist. After reading it, I consider it an excellent alternative to all those books about the segregated South written by white people – you know the ones, with their cardboard too-good-to-be-true characters who exist to be victims. You get much more texture and nuance, a far more credible picture of individuals and their communities, from someone who came from that world than from an outsider.

Anne Moody was born to a poor family in rural Mississippi, where she grew up caring for many younger siblings and started work cleaning houses at a young age. The early part of this book is less about segregation than growing up poor – tellingly, Moody remembers exactly how much she made at every job she had, and as a teenager she had some pretty awful ones. Apparently she’s called herself an activist rather than a writer, but don’t believe it. First, even when the subject matter is mundane, her writing keeps it interesting: simple but clear and very readable, and she takes creative license in writing scenes and dialogue (this may annoy some purists, but didn’t bother me). Second, the book never feels like an op-ed piece; Moody writes about events as she experienced them at the time, so, for instance, even though later she comes to despise all the white people in her hometown, this doesn’t stop her from writing positively about early employers in the first section of the book.

In college Moody became involved with the civil rights movement, which forms the focus of the later part of the book. She participates in some sit-ins, which get ugly, but her main activity is trying to sign black people up to vote, which in rural Mississippi at the time was a dangerous occupation: the workers regularly get threats from the white community, they’re harassed by police, and for several years Moody is unable to visit home for fear of harm to her family. It’s no surprise when by the end of the book she’s burned out and disillusioned; one of the things this book shows is the far-reaching effect of even a small amount of violence and intimidation. You don’t need the KKK beating everyone up, as they do in the more melodramatic novels set in this period, to explain the system of social control that existed. Moody and others showed extraordinary courage in standing up to that system, and if some elements of her story seem foreign to us now (all right, y’all, we’re driving across the South in an integrated car! I hope we make it), it’s because of the brave people who took risks to change society. Sometimes I think we forget that the civil rights movement wasn’t just marches and the “I Have a Dream” speech (ironically, Moody was not a fan of that speech. She didn’t think the movement needed dreamers).

At any rate, I consider this memoir well worth reading, especially for Americans interested in how much our country has changed (and how much it hasn’t) in the last 50 years. It grabbed my attention right away and proved to be an enthralling read, and I’m only sorry Moody hasn’t published more since this came out in 1968; I’m sure she has more to say. ...more

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Jan 06, 2008 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bios-memoirs , af-am

I knew nothing about this book before I randomly picked it off the shelf at the library...

...But I'm pleasantly surprised that it's an easy and interesting read. As Moody matter-of-factly recounts her childhood experiences in the deep south, starting from age six or so; as her understanding of her environment grows, so does her discontent, idealism and determination to work for change.

Portions devoted to describing how her own physical beauty, intelligence, courage and athletic skill was greate ...more

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Jun 14, 2008 Rachel N rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those interested in the Civil Rights Movement

Shelves: biography-memoir , african-american , race-issues

A sad, sobering, down-to-earth look at the Civil Rights movement. The author does not claim to be a "writer," but an activist who wanted to tell her own story. With that in mind, this story was truly one that needed to be told. This book is required reading in some colleges. It provides us with an inside look at growing up in the south in the 50s and 60s - a painful aspect of American history that cannot be ignored. The author was a part of the famous sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in Mis ...more

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SlimmGoodie It's much easier to criticize, that's how she felt at the time. It was real for her. And to live in those times and not end up dead cause you have ret ...more
Mar 20, 2013 04:01PM

Romancefantasy Ebookmaven I have read this book so many times and I never felt any lack of hope. I grew up in the ghetto and this book was a lifeline to me, it gave me hope tha ...more
Jul 27, 2013 08:43PM

Apr 21, 2013 Lillian rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are many levels and layers to this book. Firstly, it is a story of a young African American girl and her early childhood and the poverty and struggles of her family in Mississippi. It is also a story of a fiery intelligent young women dealing with the racism, poverty and hatred that she encountered growing up in such a G-d forsaken place, the author's own struggles with her family ,and her search for autonomy. Most importantly it covers a portion of the history of the civil rights movement ...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a pretty remarkable book, one that truly grows on you as you follow Annie Moody through her life. What works about Coming Of Age is the juxtaposition of writing style and storyline. Moody lets her story unfold using an unsentimental, no-nonsense tone. While her early years growing up in a small rural Mississippi town in the '40s were not marked by violence, the early stirrings of the Civil Rights movement prompted a rapid and ruthless white repression of black civil rights. The spare na ...more

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May 25, 2012 529_Quincy Owens rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: week-3-rll-528-african-american-lit

Coming of Age in Mississippi, the autobiography of Anne Moody is a long journey full of coincidental brushes with many moments that have shaped American history during the Civil Rights Movement. As such, Anne Moody’s story symbolically stands as evidence that there would have been no “movement” without the millions of people who marched, protested, and fought for their rights. Later in the book, Anne remarks about a march in Washington that drew millions of people; she was surprised to find she Coming of Age in Mississippi, the autobiography of Anne Moody is a long journey full of coincidental brushes with many moments that have shaped American history during the Civil Rights Movement. As such, Anne Moody’s story symbolically stands as evidence that there would have been no “movement” without the millions of people who marched, protested, and fought for their rights. Later in the book, Anne remarks about a march in Washington that drew millions of people; she was surprised to find she had “dreamers” instead of “leaders” in the movement. This was an obvious reference to Martin Luther King’s “I have a Dream,” which forces the reader to individually consider the various viewpoints of each person we have seen featured staring at MLK from the crowd the day he gave the speech. Maybe, you can try and dismiss Anne’s sentiment as unique, but her involvement in SNCC and college places her squarely among the people you would expect to follow MLK’s every word.

Moody, starts her story as a young child growing up. As she grows older, more mature and more knowledgeable her diction changes as well. It was a pleasant detail to examine once she was an adult. She tells her story in a very “matter the fact” manner devoid of most figurative language accept when used in dialogue. It is also very interesting to note how afraid she was at speaking up as a child. Considering her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement later in life, I assumed she would have always been outspoken. As Moody grows older she makes many hard decisions despite the danger, alienation, and disapproval she would meet with.

I must admit, that the book offers an abundance of mundane details about her life which can only be appreciated by considering the path from cowardice to bravery. In considering this question, the comments about indoor plumbing, moving from home to home, job to job, new clothes to old clothes, and organizations to organization becomes the unexpected proving grounds for a courageous critical woman.
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Oct 12, 2012 Hannah Williams rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the novel , "Coming Of Age In Mississippi " written by Anne Moody , tells the first person account of a young african american girl growing up and learning that she was considered to be inferior to an individual with white skin. The author does a really good job of telling us of the time when she truly understood segregation. This novel is a inspiring story about a young lady that grew up and realized that she wasnt going to just be complacent and accept the way that her people were treated. In the novel , "Coming Of Age In Mississippi " written by Anne Moody , tells the first person account of a young african american girl growing up and learning that she was considered to be inferior to an individual with white skin. The author does a really good job of telling us of the time when she truly understood segregation. This novel is a inspiring story about a young lady that grew up and realized that she wasnt going to just be complacent and accept the way that her people were treated. Instead, at a young age, she decided that she would join as many organizations as possible to make a conscious effort to do her part in bettering the conditions for blacks at her time.

Although i did enjoy reading this book, i would only rate it four stars. I didnt like that the author spent so much of the beginning of the novel on her childhood. I do realize that the background is important but i would have liked to read more information on her high school years. In my opinion, that was the most inspiring part of the story. That is the part that makes the book as interesting as it is.

A very well- known incident that ocurred and changed Anne , the main character's, outlook on life was the lynching of Emmet Till. He was young man accused of whistling a a white woman and he was immediately arrested and lynched. In her words , this is the impact that that incident had on her life:"known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. But now there was…the fear of being killed just because I was black." This is the exact moment when she decided that was going to fight for freedom.

I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning about the mistreatment of blacks during before the civil rights movement. Moody does an outstanding job in portraying a vivid picture in the minds of her readers of what it would be like to grow up during this era. From her relationship with her family, to her struggling to go to school and then rush to work each day or even just the racism. I admire the author because she was courageous enough to get involved with a movement despite the advisement of her family members. What i learned from this book was that sometimes you ahve to make decisions and your family wont always agree. Especially in this era, most African Americans are afraid of challenging the system even though they dont agree with it but the author decided that she couldnt just sit around and allow the mistreatment. If there werent individuals like her , or Martin Luther King , Jr ; then the afro-american community would still be facing injustices everyday. ...more

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Mar 08, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was an autobiography that Anne Moody wrote in the late 60s. She starts with her earliest growing up days in a hard life, poor and black in Mississippi, and she shares her own awakening not as a commentary, but vividly and emotionally as it happens to her. Her observations are frank and I think that the fact that it was written then, rather than looking back from the relative safety and calm of decades later, makes it a very powerful and frank discussion of her own involvement in the civil r ...more

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Oct 14, 2012 Shelby Sebastian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a fascinating story about the author's life growing up in rural Mississippi. The story describes her fight against racism and describes all the hardships her and her family endured. The story is told in chronological order starting with her growing up in Mississippi, her fight to gain her education, different family relationships, problems with poverty, racism, violence and finally, her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement. It is a very powerful story that I believe is for high sch ...more

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Jun 13, 2015 Rich rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A fascinating story of growing up in MS during the 50's and 60's. The last third of the book gives you a first hand insight into the Freedom movement in that state. The only reason I did not rate this a 5 was that the writing style was not as engaging as I would have liked. However the content was great. Well worth the read, particularly if you remember growing up during those years. What a different perspective I had growing up in New Jersey.

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Apr 21, 2009 Nicole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Autobiography of Anne Moody, a civil rights activist in the early 60's. The book tells the story of her life from a poor child growing up in Mississippi through high school and college and finally to her work with the movement in her early 20's.

I found the book very interesting. And almost unbelievable to think these sorts of things were going on such a short time ago.

However, I wasn't at all impressed with the writing or the editing of the book. I felt the story was scattered, at times leaving ...more

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Jul 07, 2007 Meghan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who like autobiographies

This book had all of the charm and the trappings of an autobiography. It gave an excellent, personal portrait of life in rural Mississippi in the 50's and 60's, making historical events like the rise of the KKK more meaningful than in any textbook, but it jumped around cronologically, gave poor explanations of events, and sometimes left out whole stretches of history. The most important aspect of this book is the illustration of the multiple layers of inequality; sexism, racism, colorism with ra ...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am currently taking a civil rights class, and this book complements it nicely. So far, I am enjoying the book both because of the amazing determination the author shows in getting an education despite the odds, but also because of the incredibly frightening first-hand accounts of the horrors of racism in the Deep South in this time period.

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Now that I'm finished (silly school slowed me down a lot) the only thing I have to add is that I wish it hadn't ended where it did. I know she went on ...more

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Jan 06, 2009 Chanell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i didn't know if i would be able to fully appreciate this autobiography. in college, i read so many memoirs and biographies that they began to lose their spirit for me. so i was a bit resistant to read this one. but i am so glad that i did. there's a way that anne moody draws you into her life ... it's so gripping, realistic, and compelling - that i felt the emotions that she wrote. by the end of the novel, i felt as exhausted as she wrote about - as if i had participated in all of movements. am ...more

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Sep 14, 2015 Minna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A truly moving account of growing up poor and black in Mississippi in the 40s/50s, and the author's involvement in the civil rights movement beginning in college in the early 60s. The book ends just days after her graduation from college, on an uncertain note:

We shall overcome, We shall overcome
We shall overcome some day.

I WONDER. I really WONDER.

As a protagonist, Anne Moody is strong, determined, feels things deeply; her discontent over the years with the way of things, with people around he ...more

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Feb 26, 2015 Steven rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book deserves a place alongside books by Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Ralph Ellison, and others, most notably because it is an autobiography rather than a fictionalization of life in the segregated South. Moody's memoir chronicles horrors and degradations she and her family suffered--sometimes at the direct hand of racist whites in southern Mississippi, but more often as an indirect result of a system that kept generations poor, uneducated, and powerless.

While I found th ...more

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May 30, 2015 Linda Lipko rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: civil-rights

I finished this book a few days ago and have really thought a lot about what to say. I have such mixed feelings. It was good enough to hold my interest, but about 3/4 of the way through I grew weary of what I perceived as near constant whining.

Anne deserves so much credit for her bravery during the civil rights movement. A part of the infamous Woolworth sit in at the lunch counter wherein she and her fellow protesters sat at what was then an all white lunch counter. Refusing to leave, they suff I finished this book a few days ago and have really thought a lot about what to say. I have such mixed feelings. It was good enough to hold my interest, but about 3/4 of the way through I grew weary of what I perceived as near constant whining.

Anne deserves so much credit for her bravery during the civil rights movement. A part of the infamous Woolworth sit in at the lunch counter wherein she and her fellow protesters sat at what was then an all white lunch counter. Refusing to leave, they suffered verbal and physical abuse. Anne was arrested throughout her career in civil rights protests and she deserves much credit for thousands of hours of trying to canvas black neighborhoods in the hope of increasing voter registration.

Dirt poor as a child, her parents separated and times were very tough. At an early age, she helped support her family by doing various domestic work. She was indeed a very spunky, tough self reliant person.

My fault with the book is the repetitive negativity. It seems that Anne has quite a huge chip on her shoulder, not just regarding white people, but blacks as well. And, many times she comes across as a know it all. Even her assessment of Dr. Martin Luther King's I Had a Dream Speech seemed derogatory.

While I can admire her accomplishments and her fortitude, I also think she had some severe issues of inability to look at herself in relation to her negative comments and actions of others.

I started out very interested in her story and her depiction in all terrible atrocities of southern whites and their treatment of blacks. I can only imagine what it was like to live in this terrible period of history.

However, as I finished the book, I truly wish I could have liked her more.
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Dec 17, 2014 L.A. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a tough read, but worthwhile. Anne Moody grew up in Mississippi and didn't like a lot of what she saw going on around her. She was determined to get away from the tiny town where she grew up, get herself an education, and live a larger life. In college she became part of the civil rights movement, participating in voter drives, sit-ins, and marches, despite the constant threats of violence against her, her fellow justice workers, and her family back home. This took a heavy psychological ...more

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Aug 22, 2013 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

autobiography of Anne moody from
her birth in 1940 to graduating college in 1964. focuses on southern Mississippi race relations, kkk activities, and then "the movement" in the late 50s and early 60s. excellent perspective from a primary source. subpar writing and countless tangents into the trivial. I am glad to have read it, but I suffered a little to get it done.

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