`Coming of Age in Mississippi`, by Anne Moody

She becomes more of a loaner than she had been before . She retreats from her family . Angry with Raymond , Anne throws a tantrum , and her family locks her out of the house . She goes to live with her father and his wife

After graduation , Anne returns to New Orleans to find work . She isn 't earning a decent wage and learns that she is eligible for a scholarship She is accepted at Natchez College , a conservative , religious college in Natchez , Mississippi . She feels like a prisoner in this environment but is

forced to continue due to a lack of funds to go elsewhere . She continues her outspoken nature and forms a dining hall strike after maggots are found in the food . Despite the trouble she causes , the President of the school helps her pursue a scholarship at Tougaloo College , the best college in the state for blacks

Anne is fearful of attending Tougaloo , as she has heard it is mainly pale-skinned , wealthy blacks that attend there . She is surprised to learn that students of all colors get along . Upon learning that one of her roommates is secretary of the NAACP , she joins right in . She becomes so involved in rallies and activism that her grades begin to suffer . She begins working on black voter registration

During her senior year at Tougaloo , Anne receives a letter from her mother , discouraging her involvement in the participation of civil rights activities and states that she won 't be able to return home if she keeps it up . Why was I trying to get myself killed ? [Momma] kept asking . What was I trying to prove ' Moody reports that her mother pointed out the uselessness of trying to change racial givens in the South : Over and over again she said that after I was dead...