Coming Of Age In Mississippi By Anne Moody: Chapter Analysis

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In the "Movement" chapter of "Coming of Age in Mississippi," Moody got the full experience of being in the civil rights movement during her time. Through the sections and through Anne Moody, we can see her illustrate the many different costs that come with fighting for civil rights. We see her face danger from people going against her beliefs; we see the government trying to suppress the movement; we see personal battles within her family; tensions between the differing ideals of civil rights organizations; and everyday people stepping up and being looked at as heroes. Through all this, we see Moody struggle with episodes of depression and persimmon when it comes to the slow change and lack of progress that's been made with all the emotional …show more content…

"Students who refused to let go of the flags were jabbed with rifle butts." Even though this violence didn't happen to Moody, it is still an example of what could have happened to her. This is just one of the many examples of the ways in which law enforcement abused their power when handling such things as these peaceful protesters. Which is a great transition into the next topic. The government played a pretty sizeable role in the suppression of the black community with things like slavery in the past. Now looking into the post-slavery era and more into the civil rights movement in the 1960s, they still played a role in suppressing the black community with things like segregation and by responding to the civil rights movements with hostility and aggression. Like we saw in the past example with the protesters getting beat by the police, we also saw the FBI get involved in the matter. Yes, we are from the FBI. He said he was showing me his identification. We are here for the shooting. Where can we find the five kids who were involved?" This visit from these agents doesn't go over well with Moody, as it frightens her to learn that the federal government …show more content…

We've seen plenty of examples of Moody's mom just sitting back while things happen, and we see this even at the end. We see this best in Chapter 22 with this quote. "Three days later, I got a letter from my mama with dried-up tears on it, forbidding me to go to the convention." Her mom Counts by telling her she needs to stop all of this and threatens to come and kill if she doesn't stop. This shows a long-lasting tension between Anne and her mom coming to an end. This often upsets Moody, drives her passion to want to serve her people even more, and lights a flame in her soul. When it comes to the different civil rights groups, there was some built-up tension between them, just like the tension Moody had with her mother. The groups often fought over different ideals and ways to go about civil rights. For example, SCLC tried to go about things with nonviolent protesting and working to change the system. While SNCC came with a more confrontational approach to activism, there are plenty of acts of heroism thought out in the "Movement" section of the book. Some could see Moody as a hero, but the one I loved the most was the acts of