Ann Moody in 1968 published her autobiography “Coming of Age in Mississippi. The book depicted her experience growing up as an impoverished Southern African American. She was involved at the time, in the 1960s, with the Civil Rights Movement.
Essie Mae first incident with racism was at the movie theater and the encounter stirred a curiosity inside her on the racial discrimination-taking place in the South. It made her question the supposed difference between been black and white; frankly, to her the skin color did not
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matter. She had made two white friends, Katie, and Bill, a first for her; developing a close relationship with them who in turn allowed her to ride their bikes and skates. It so happened that Essie’s mother always took her …show more content…
It was at this times Emmett Till; a 14-year-old boy was killed by a group of white men. Annie was working as a housemaid for Mrs. Burke, a mean white woman, who made Essie feel disgusted with her life. The killing horrified Annie who for the first time in her life was afraid and felt threatened of been killed due to her skin color. One night she overheard a conversation Mrs. Burke was having with another woman discussing an organization referred to as the “NAAP.” She was curious about the name and on asking her teacher in school; she was informed that it was an organization pushing for the prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Emmett Till. At the young age 14 years, she came to …show more content…
I think I despised blacks for allowing themselves to be pushed around than my hatred for the whites. To me they are cowards.“[2] She was angry, fed up off the status quo as it was, and wanted change.
The fighting spirit she developed at her high school years grew to propel her from working in white homes to joining the Civil Rights movement. She felt that she rather die fighting the system than life under a system that oppressed and denied her rights. She made her first white friend, a Civil Rights Activists who with other Civil Rights Activists made her feel at home and fulfilled, at some pointed she remarks “I was gradually changing as my involvement in the Movement grew. The desire to prove myself was no longer there, and all I now wanted was to do more with the movement because it gave my life meaning“[3].
The Civil Rights Movement had been kick-started when NAACP was handling the murder case of Emmett Till in a push to get those responsible prosecuted. The 14 year Old’s crime had been supposedly whistling at a white woman. Annie Mae resolved to join the Movement and fight for the right to equality for every black person in the south and vehemently opposed
Essie Mae first incident with racism was at the movie theater and the encounter stirred a curiosity inside her on the racial discrimination-taking place in the South. It made her question the supposed difference between been black and white; frankly, to her the skin color did not
3
matter. She had made two white friends, Katie, and Bill, a first for her; developing a close relationship with them who in turn allowed her to ride their bikes and skates. It so happened that Essie’s mother always took her …show more content…
It was at this times Emmett Till; a 14-year-old boy was killed by a group of white men. Annie was working as a housemaid for Mrs. Burke, a mean white woman, who made Essie feel disgusted with her life. The killing horrified Annie who for the first time in her life was afraid and felt threatened of been killed due to her skin color. One night she overheard a conversation Mrs. Burke was having with another woman discussing an organization referred to as the “NAAP.” She was curious about the name and on asking her teacher in school; she was informed that it was an organization pushing for the prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Emmett Till. At the young age 14 years, she came to …show more content…
I think I despised blacks for allowing themselves to be pushed around than my hatred for the whites. To me they are cowards.“[2] She was angry, fed up off the status quo as it was, and wanted change.
The fighting spirit she developed at her high school years grew to propel her from working in white homes to joining the Civil Rights movement. She felt that she rather die fighting the system than life under a system that oppressed and denied her rights. She made her first white friend, a Civil Rights Activists who with other Civil Rights Activists made her feel at home and fulfilled, at some pointed she remarks “I was gradually changing as my involvement in the Movement grew. The desire to prove myself was no longer there, and all I now wanted was to do more with the movement because it gave my life meaning“[3].
The Civil Rights Movement had been kick-started when NAACP was handling the murder case of Emmett Till in a push to get those responsible prosecuted. The 14 year Old’s crime had been supposedly whistling at a white woman. Annie Mae resolved to join the Movement and fight for the right to equality for every black person in the south and vehemently opposed