Anne Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi" was altogether insightful into the life of an African-American raised in the deep south during the civil rights movement. It gave us a look at what many sacrificed in order to achieve civil rights for all. I believe this book achieved its goal of telling of one woman's struggle for her basic rights in a hostile environment.
             This book begins with the life of its author. She starts out as basically a slave child on a farm in Mississippi. She tells of her parent's lives, how they went to the fields at sun up and came back from them at sundown. She describes her abusive cousin, George Lee, and tells of a few traumatic childhood experiences. She goes on describing where her mother and fathers marital problems began, which leads to their separation and her father moving in with another woman. This is where her hardships begin for her. Throughout her childhood she is a timid, poor little girl who is afraid to even ask her mother questions about what is going on around her. Anne tells of their staple diet, beans and bread, which was just enough to keep her alive. I cannot possibly imagine what it is like to be on the brink of starvation. Although a timid, shy, little girl, Anne does show a spark of intensity through her schoolwork. She is very competitive and driven to do well in school. This is the fuel which will later feed her fire to participate in the Movement. This want for an education is also a rather new trait for black women of her time. She is already a sort of radical as a child and does not even know it yet.
             As she grows older her mother begins a relationship with a black man from town named Raymond. She talks of her mother being pregnant and her realizing how babies are brought into the world. Anne describes her mother's mood swings and what I see as emotional depression while seeing Raymond and not living with him. Anne, her mother, brother, and sister even...