Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Praise for Anne Moody

What readers and leaders had to say about this extraordinary 
woman and her book, Coming of Age in Mississippi

#AnneMoody

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Coming of Age in Mississippi was first published in 1968 by Dial
Publishing. It has reportedly remained in print since that time. Over the
years, it has been required reading in many schools.
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Note: This collection of reviews and comments about Anne Moody and her classic autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, was taken from multiple sources. While many originated as blurbs and promotional copy featured in the book (and on the book’s cover), some of the comments came from newspaper articles, blog posts, and online discussion groups.

The language will undoubtedly appear dated in some of the comments, particularly when the word “negro” is used. Still, the sentiments expressed are just as relevant and meaningful today as they were in years past. Some may argue, and with some justification, I might add, that the ideas shared about Moody are more pertinent today given the current political (and racial) climate.

Whatever views one may have about race and politics, it is my hope that we will learn from Moody’s story … take a few risks … and be inspired to make a difference by working -- and serving -- in the interest of freedom, justice and civil rights for all. May her memory be honored and may her legacy live on for future generations. – Roscoe Barnes III, Chairman, Anne Moody History Project

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"Reading this book places you right in the heart of the civil rights movement, with a remarkably strong woman as your guide. She was bold and outspoken and unafraid.

"Moody died in February at age 74. Thankfully, though, her words, her courageous spirit, and her important legacy live on to inspire future generations." — Lou Ann Lofton, Mississippi Business Journalmbj@msbusiness.com

“Coming of Age was a big deal when it came out, and it’s still a big deal now, nearly fifty years later. It is read in literature and history classes in high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country, indeed, around the world. It is one of those rare sorts of books that has never gone out of print. It is a modern-day classic.” -- M. J. O’Brien, author of We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired

“Her book, ‘Coming of Age in Mississippi,” guarantees her immortality. But more than that, we shall always remember a brave, a plucky and committed human being who, despite the many and various vicissitudes, continued toward the Sun.” – John Salter Jr., Tougaloo professor, in The Clarion-Ledger (Feb. 7, 2015)

“We came from a very poor family, and when she joined the movement, she did it because it was something that needed to be done. She wasn’t out there just to be there. I’m very proud of her for what she did. She made it better for me.” – Adline Moody, sister of Anne Moody, in interview with the Associated Press (Feb. 7, 2015)

“An Eloquent, Moving Testimonial To Her Courage… A Shattering Experience.” – Chicago Tribune

“ENGROSSING, SENSITIVE, BEAUTIFUL … SO CANDID, SO HONEST AND SO TOUCHING, AS TO MAKE IT VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE TO PUT DOWN.” – San Francisco Sun-Reporter

“A history of our time, seen from the bottom up, through the eyes of someone who decided for herself that things had to be changed…. A timely reminder that we cannot now relax.” – Senator Edward Kennedy, The New York Times Book Review

“Something is new here … rural southern black life begins to speak. It hits the page like a natural force, crude and undeniable and against all principles of beauty, beautiful.” – The Nation

“Soul is an elusive, overworked, often misapplied term … but it fits this powerful autobiography.” – Library Journal

“Supremely involving…written with stripped simplicity … not a single false high note.” – Kirkus Reviews

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Anne Moody grew up in the small town
of Centreville, Miss., in Wilkinson County.
 
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“Anne Moody recounts the horror and shame of what growing up in Mississippi really means if you are black. Poverty, knives, threats, arson, miscegenation, illegitimacy, domestic service, police brutality, Uncle Toms, lynchings, the works. Miraculously, out of the quagmire the personal excellence of this extraordinary woman and writer emerges …. Her later involvement with NAACP, CORE, summer projects, rights demonstrations, ugliness, violence, she describes without a trace of see-what-a-martyr-am-I. … A lovely and true book that gives you what good writing is supposed to: catharsis, baby.” – Publishers Weekly

“The most moving and honest account of what life is like for the Negro in Mississippi as one is apt to find … a far better story (and certainly far better told) than most fiction being published today … One of the most (possibly the most) engrossing, sensitive, beautiful books of nonfiction which has been published for years and years.” – San Francisco Sun-Reporter

“Simply, one of the best … For those readers who still persist in the myth that growing up black in the South is little different from growing up white, this book should prove a shattering experience …. Anne Moody’s autobiography is an eloquent, moving testimonial to her courage; indeed, to the courage of all the young who storm the preserves of bigotry…. After reading this remarkable book, we know that this is the way it is.” – Chicago Tribune

“Definitive … supremely human … Anne Moody tells it like it is – and tells it with sensitivity and anger and despair and frustration and wondering …. She is a hero, I suppose, by measurements of history; but she is not a profile of a hero … she is as multi-dimensional as any person I have met in print.” Oregon Journal

“Nearly half a century after its publication, Ms. Moody’s 1968 autobiography remains a noted volume in the library of first-person accounts describing the inequality suffered by African Americans of her era.” – Emily Langer, Washington Post

“She had determination. That determination carried on in her work in the civil rights movement, gave her strength to stand up to things.” – The Rev. Ed King, former chaplain of Tougaloo College, in The Clarion-Ledger (Feb. 7, 2015)

“She gave us the testament of her youth and sacrificed her fragile consciousness on the altar of nonviolence so that we might all have a better life, a better America, a better world.  That’s quite a legacy.” -- M. J. O’Brien, author of We Shall Not Be Moved: The Jackson Woolworth’s Sit-In and the Movement It Inspired

"I am deeply saddened by the death of Anne Moody. Anne dedicated her life to ensuring equality for others. Her sacrifices will never be forgotten and her legacy will live on in the hearts of many.” -- Congressman Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02)

“Not surprisingly, Mississippi students respond strongly to Moody’s powerful, very personal account of her growing consciousness of racism in Mississippi in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and her gradual evolution into an angry, outspoken participant in the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. 

“Moody wrote her book while she was still young; her account of her childhood (poverty, the hatred of local whites, her mother’s fear of her activism, etc.) is moving because she was the age of most of my students when she wrote about her own childhood, high school and college experiences.” -- Maureen Ryan, USM professor of English
 (http://www.studentprintz.com/civil-rights-activists-legacy-lives) 

“I always looked up to Anne Moody after reading her memoir in one of my English classes and when I heard the unfortunate news of her death, I could not believe it, but I knew she had left behind a powerful legacy from the changes she made.” -- Katelyn Daniels, a junior psychology major (http://www.studentprintz.com/civil-rights-activists-legacy-lives)

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For more information: 
Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

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