“ Anne Moody, activist and chronicler of the civil rights movement, dies at 74,” Washington Post, Febru(requires Library login)Ĭommissioner William H. How a Lunch Counter Sit-In Became an Iconic Civil Rights Moment - Southern Foodways Alliance (6 min) As the author of the autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi, Anne. I had found something outside myself that gave meaning to my life.” Learn more This article originally appeared in Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary, 2006. It no longer seemed important to prove anything. “But something happened to me as I got more and more involved in the Movement. Probably just being a Negro period was enough, I thought.”

But I didn’t know what one had to do or not do as a Negro not to be killed. I also was told that if I were a good girl, I wouldn’t have to fear the Devil or hell. I knew once I got food, the fear of starving to death would leave. But now there was a new fear known to me-the fear of being killed just because I was black. “Before Emmett Till’s murder, I had known the fear of hunger, hell, and the Devil. Post contributed by Sam Mitrani, History In their words After her book came out, she moved to New York City and withdrew from public life.Īnne Moody’s determination and spirit of resistance despite the desperation and violence that surrounded her remain a model for those dedicated to fighting oppression to this day. In her classic autobiography (which everyone should read), she describes numerous murders and threats against black activists and ordinary people caught up in the violence. While her own participation was non-violent, she and her family faced the constant threat of white supremacist violence. She was active at various times with the NAACP, CORE, and SNCC, participating in a famous 1963 sit-in at the Jackson, Mississippi Woolworth and in the Freedom Summer campaign to register black voters in the Mississippi Delta region. Born in Centreville, a small town in Mississippi, she started by standing up for herself, embodying the spirit of those Nina Simone described as “young, gifted and black,” in part by insisting on her right to an education. Anne Moody (1940-2015) - Activist, Writer by Jenn Kelley on T21:25:00-06:00 | 0 CommentsĪnne Moody is famous for her autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, in which she describes her youth as a fighter against injustice.

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