Coming of Age in Mississippi

In 1968, Anne Moody published her autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi. Her book is a startling depiction of what it was like to grow up a poor, southern African American. Through her revelations of the tremendous amounts of racial discrimination and prejudice that African Americans faced in the South, Moody was able to capture the attention of Americans around the country, from all social classes and backgrounds. Moody creates an unforgettable image of the inequalities and violence that characterized Southern, Black society and, through her own involvement, shows why the Civil Rights Movement was such a necessity. Indeed, the Civil Rights Movement was transforming, turning away from the nonviolence of Martin Luther King to a more militant stance embodied by Malcolm X. But how much has African American life changed since then? Despite the elimination of most forms of legal and overt racism that were customary when Anne Moody was growing up, the Civil Rights Movement failed to er...