Anne’s own growth and maturation are symbolic of the growth and maturation of the civil rights movement. In this book, Anne Moody talks extensively about the civil rights movement that she participated in. It dealt with numerous issues that had to do with racism and that many people did not agree with. Moody also include many contemporaries that would either make or break her equal right fight. “Coming of Age in Mississippi” gives the reader a first-hand look at the efforts that many people did to gain equal rights.
“It no longer seemed important to prove anything. I had found something outside myself that gave meaning to my life.” After college, Moody realizes that she wanted to become an activist. She knows that she …show more content…
Like Moody, there were many dreamers, but very few of them actually became leaders. Kennedy’s assassination triggered not only Moody, but also the SNCC. They believed he was going to be the answer. Miss. Burke, in a way, is Moody’s rival contemporary. She used Moody as her maid and looks down on blacks. The first time Moody hears about the NAACP was at her house when Mrs. Burke had her ladies group over for a meeting. Moody’s biggest contemporary would be her mother. She was always trying to prevent Moody from finding out the truth. “And don’t you let on like you know nothing about that boy being killed before Miss Burke them. Jus do your work like you don’t know nothing”(Moody, 130). I believe that Moody’s mother is right, but at the same time wrong. Moody should have known the truth on racism since the beginning. Due to the fact that she didn’t, she found it the hard way; by overhearing Miss Burke at one of her meetings. “Don’t you ever mention that word around Mrs. Burke or no other white person, you heah! Finish your lesson and cut that light out and go to bed”(Moody,134). Momma is trying to keep Moody away from everyone and living like a normal black person because she knows that she has to potential to speak up and is scared for