Anne Moody Mentioned in M.A. Thesis, 'How Change Started to Come' (2019) by Jennifer Davis

By Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Chairman, Anne Moody History Project
Copyright (c) 2019

#AnneMoody

When Anne Moody felt crushed by the news of four girls being killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963, she found comfort in the music of Ray Charles. That experience, which she recounted in Coming of Age in Mississippi, is cited in Jennifer Davis' thesis, How Change Started to Come: Examining Rhythm and Blues and Southern Identity (University of Central Florida, 2019).

I wrote about Moody's experience in the 2018 blog post, "Anne Moody and Ray Charles' 'Danger Zone': How She Found Comfort Where She Didn’t Expect It' (January 18, 2018). See it here.

In the Abstract to Davis' thesis, which was written for her Master of Arts degree, she takes a look at how "blacks in the South have presented their sense of Southern identity." She writes:

This project seeks a better understanding on how blackness has been peripheral to our understanding of the term Southerner. The purpose of this work is to examine an area where the intersection of race and region exists to more fully understand how blacks in the South have presented their sense of Southern identity. The chosen area of examination is the music of rhythm and blues.

On page 74, she discusses Anne Moody. She notes:

The ethos of rhythm and blues was how it connected the social function of the black church with the attitudes of the black working class. Rhythm and blues became the sound of an entire social movement. The music itself becoming a companion. Julian Bond said of Ray Charles that “The voice, the music, the whole package taken together pulled me in, as it pulled in many, many others” and Anne Moody recalled that after Medgar Evers’ murder and the Birmingham 16th Street Church bombing that she put on a Charles record and “It seemed as though I had never listened to Ray before. For the first time he said something to me.”

Moody's book has been in print for 51 years now. Since its release in 1968, many parts of it have been cited in the literature. It's good to now see the Ray Charles section being discussed.

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Want to know MORE about Anne Moody?

Visit here to see the timeline of important

events in her life history!

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For more information: 
See the Anne Moody page here. Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III, Ph.D. 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