Coming of Age in Mississippi

What is the Civil Rights movement? Why does it happen when it does? What brings people into the movement? Why and how did Anne Moody become active in the Civil Rights movement?
What happens to the Civil Rights movement? What is the relationship between its leadership and the people? Describe the roles of the SCLC, SNCC, CORE, and NAACP.
Compare Anne Moody's childhood in the 1950s to Richard Wright's in the 1920s. Has anything changed? Why or why not? Does gender play a role in their experiences?
After Medgar Evars's assassination, a group of high school students refuse to participate in a protest Moody is organizing. She describes her feeling: "I felt sick, I got so mad at them. How could Negroes be so pitiful? (277)" Do you agree with Moody? How would you justify the students' apathy?
What does Moody say about her experience at the March on Washington on August 28, 1963? How does this differ from Americans' popular memories of King's "I Have a Dream" speech?
- Read the "I Have a Dream" Speech
- View an on-line version.
Why does Moody change her mind about nonviolence as an instrument for political and social change? Do you agree with her decision or not? Does this change affect Moody's participation in the Civil Rights movement?

Biography of Anne Moody: By "Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color." Includes a bibliography of published articles about Moody's work
National Civil Rights Museum: "Provides a virtual tour, including photographs and Illustrations, of the museum's primary exhibition, which chronicles the Civil Rights Movement from Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka to the present."
Civil Rights Timeline: A timeline of important Civil Rights events from 1783 to 1996, posted at the CNN news web.