#AnneMoody
Matt Williamson/Enterprise-Journal
Indianola Native and prison chaplain Roscoe Barnes III stands with a copy of Centreville native Anne Moody’s 1968 autobiography Coming of Age in Mississippi. Barnes has worked over the past few years to keep the Civil Rights icon’s legacy alive in her hometown.
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NOTE: Another
newspaper has done an outstanding job on the legacy of Anne Moody. This time it’s
my hometown paper, The Enterprise-Tocsin (Indianola, Miss.). The story was
written by Publisher Bryan Davis, who blew me away with his attention to
detail. When I saw the story, I had to take a deep breath. Why? I was deeply
moved. I simply loved the way he weaved the story together and the overall way
in which he shared anecdotes from my life and the life history of Moody. He
covered all the bases and he did it as a true professional. His work is truly
appreciated. – Roscoe Barnes III,
Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
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Indianola native keeping
Civil Rights
icon’s legacy alive in
Centreville
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By BRYAN DAVIS
Publisher
Enterprise-Tocsin (March 8, 2018)
Website: http://www.enterprise-tocsin.com
Roscoe Barnes III lives his
life with one foot in journalism and the other foot in ministry.
The Indianola native and current
Wilkinson County resident has been writing since he was in the U.S. Army, where
he served as a chaplain’s assistant during the early 1980s.
He returned home to
Indianola in 1984 and went to work as a reporter at The Enterprise-Tocsin,
where he became an award-winning journalist.
Barnes would leave
Indianola again to attend Bible College and seminary. He would write for several
Pennsylvania newspapers, including The Gettysburg Times, he said.
After spending 20 years
away from Mississippi and the South, Barnes returned to his home state in 2013
to take the job as a chaplain at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility
near Centreville.
Shortly after arriving at
his new home, Barnes discovered that one of the town’s notable natives was none
other than Civil Rights icon Anne Moody.
Moody became involved in
the Civil Rights Movement at a young age. She participated in the Woolworth’s
lunch counter sit-in in Jackson just two weeks before the assassination of
Medgar Evers. Moody, along with two other protesters, endured attacks from an
angry white mob, an event captured in one of the movement’s most iconic photographs.
Moody’s autobiography,
Coming of Age in Mississippi (1968), is still read in classrooms throughout
America, but in her hometown, Barnes found there was little there to honor the
woman, who worked with some of the movement’s most famous figures like Evers.
“We were just disappointed
that there was nothing in the community that would indicate that she ever lived
here,” Barnes said of he and some of his colleagues at the prison. “There were
no signs, no markers, no plaques, no portraits, there was nothing.”
After Evers was
assassinated, Moody said in her autobiography that she was shown a leaflet that
was distributed by the Ku Klux Klan, which was something akin to a wanted
poster.
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Figures like Evers and
Emmitt Till, already deceased, were on the paper with and X marked through
their faces. Moody said her picture was on the poster, and that is what
prompted her to leave her hometown and the South for many years.
Barnes said it was
devastating when he learned when she passed away in 2015 that she was living
just a few miles from Centreville, in Gloster.
“I had read that she left
years ago and never returned. I did not know she was still in the area until
after her death,” Barnes said. “When she died, she was living in Gloster, which
is a very short distance from Centreville. I felt like there was a tremendous loss
to the community and to the state, but as a writer, I wanted to write her story.”
Preserving History
Barnes did not want
Moody’s story to be forgotten, and neither did his colleagues at the jail.
It turns out, some of the
inmates would play a role in the preservation of Moody’s history as well.
“We started with a book
club,” Barnes said. The prison ordered 30 copies of Moody’s book for the
inmates. The warden, Barnes said, was on board from the beginning, designating
it a community service project for the prisoners.
“We held an Anne Moody
program,” Barnes said. “We invited her brother, Fred Moody, to be a guest
speaker. When he finished speaking, he signed copies of the book. They just
loved it.”
Barnes said one of the
inmates fell in love with the book and became the facilitator of the book club
and the project. The project has evolved into getting streets and portions of a
highway named for Moody.
Lessons for Other
Communities
Sunflower County has a
trove of Civil Rights history. Another powerful and female figure in the
movement, Fannie Lou Hamer, was from Ruleville. Hamer pushed for voter
registration, among other things, during the 1960s. She died of cancer in the mid-1970s.
Barnes said there are
unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement all across Mississippi, and it’s up
to those living in those counties and towns to keep the history alive.
“Identify the person or
persons who have made a difference and have made contributions,” Barnes said.
“Document the person’s
contributions. Once you have found someone who is worthy and should be
recognized, form a committee or a group.”
Barnes said what he and
his small group have done to preserve Moody’s legacy in Centreville can be
replicated anywhere.
“I have received emails
and phone calls from people asking me how they can duplicate this, how can they
do what we’ve done here in their towns and their counties,” Barnes said. “I’m
very pleased we’re getting this reaction.”
Barnes said that once a
group is organized, they should reach out to local officials about naming roads
after these individuals and getting plaques made in their honor. He said state
representatives can help in getting state roads and highways named for
individuals.
Barnes said any buildings or
homes associated with the person or persons could be placed on the National
Register of Historic Places.
Barnes also said it is
important to utilize the Internet.
“You definitely want to
create an online presence,” he said. “That’s where people are nowadays.”
Outside of social media,
Barnes said to stay active within the community.
“Talk it up,” Barnes said.
“Spend time visiting schools, libraries and churches. Hold special events…Honor
that person, and use it to teach the younger generation.”
Moody’s book will
turn 50 years old in 2018.
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To learn more about Anne Moody, visit here.
For more information, contact Roscoe Barnes III via email at
roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com or doctorbarnes3@gmail.com. You may also follow him on
Twitter: @roscoebarnes3 and @AnneMoodyHP
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