Anne Moody and Civil Rights Movements in Mississippi (Book Review Sample)

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Anne Moody and Civil Rights Movements in Mississippi
Events in Moody’s youth that inspired her to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement
Anne Moody was born on 15th September 1940, and she was raised in one of the most violent and turbulent period for African Americans (Moody 15). She witnessed indirectly or directly various senseless crimes happening in the state she was born. Additionally, Ann Moody encountered issues to do with racial discrimination for the first time at the age of four years. Equally, Moody’s family resided in a plantation where a cabin was their house. Her parents were forced to leave Anne and her siblings at home because they toiled as sharecroppers, and they hardly made enough money for the family (Moody 17).
College and work experiences, coupled with seeing the actions and fear of her mother, made Moody to desire change as a woman from the community of African American. In addition, after Anne’ uncle put their house on fire, it severely affected Anne’s family, and her father left her mother for a mulatto woman who was fair-skinned. As such, Anne noted the hatred her mother had for the other woman in relation to race (Moody 19). The incident made Anne see people in terms of race because of the way her mother’s hatred the other woman named Florence. Despite being young, Anne witnessed her mother using racial labels to refer to the other woman of different color (Moody 88). Equally, the poverty that Moody experienced as a young woman made her wonder why others lived well as they were suffering. The poor and the rich in her society influenced her ideology when she joined the Civil Rights Movement. In addition, when she worked for different whites her anger for racial prejudice grew even more. Since, some whites educated her in a way to show her the place of African Americans in society.
In 1955, Emmett Till was taken out his home and violently lynched for whistling and winking at a white lady (Moody 126). The lynching of Emmett had an enormous influence on Moody; she was able to see the actual disparity between blacks and whites. Equally, she started fearing for her life because she knew her skin color was black. Consequently, the death of Emmett Till marked the start of Anne’s ventures into the field of activism, and the death acted as her ideology’s foundation. In addition, when in college Anne led other students to boycott after they found maggots in their grits. She confronted the kitchen staff, Miss Harris, to complain on behalf of other students because of the maggots in their food (Boynton and Jo Malin 406). In reality, this incident depicted how Anne could stand up for what she believed was right, fair and equal for everyone.
Anne was involved with Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) when at the Tougaloo College. Equally, she also got involved with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The SNCC dealt with forming demonstrations to desegregate private and public establishments, where Anne attended various planning meetings (Moody, 213). However, one day when they were at Woolworths store in Mississippi, they were violently attacked making Anne conclude that it was not hate but sickness. Hence, she resolved that she cannot fight with sick people but look for a cure for the sickness. That resolution made Anne change her strategy, and she joined the Civil Rights Movement. As such, she was present during the famous "I have a Dream" speech by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington. However, Anne listened to King’s speech, and she comprehended that the movement lacked leaders, but they only had dreamers (Moody 271). Similarly, Anne looks at Kings Movement, and she realizes that in Mississippi they could not sleep, leave alone dreaming (Moody 334). Moody desired real change not a passive movement like Mahatma Gandhi of India leading his followers to an effective revolution that was passive. Unfortunately, Anne believes a passive movement would fail in Mississippi because in the South of America individuals would embrace biggest difference. They concentrated too much on mock elections and voter registration. Hence, Moody opted to focus on assisting to bring progress and assist farmers purchase their land. Therefore, Moody saw the above mentioned as the actual change that was tangible and had an effect that was lasting. On the other hand, she could never leave Kings Movement because she knew there was a lot of work to be done about racial discrimination (Moody 340).
The role of gender in the book
Many women influenced the way Anne Moody perceived the issue of race, and her later ideology in the Civil Rights Movement (Boynton and Jo Malin 404). Anne’s mother wanted to protect her from discovering the racial difference that existed in their society. For instance, she always reminded Anne to behave in a particular way around the whites. Equally, when Anne asked her mother about NAACP, her mother warned her not to be asking such type of questions. However, when Anne’s father married Florence, who was light-skinned, she noticed how her mother hated the other race. In addition, when Anne interacted with Mrs. Burke she was confused because she could not understand society. Mrs. Burke always reminded Anne the place she belonged in society by showing her how to behave. Furthermore, Anne was not happy with the way Miss Adams, the basketball coach, made her ridiculous remarks and rules regarding the girls in college (Moody 243).
Explaining the Goals, Activities, Expectations and Realities of the Civil Rights Workers
The primary goals of the civil rights workers were to end racial discrimination in the United States and to expand Black voter registration. Other goals included; to establish public schools that enhance...