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Coming Of Age in Mississippi

 

            Anne Moody's autobiography, "Coming of Age in Mississippi," delivers certain messages and history that most people, still to this day, tend to ignore. In this autobiography, Moody exposes her fight against racial segregation during the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi. Throughout this memoir we are faced with many themes such as: the destructive power of prejudice, racial distinctions, and personal growth. While searching for songs that related to this autobiography and the themes, I discovered four songs that really captured my attention. The songs I have chosen symbolize Anne Moody's personal growth. .
             In chapter three, Essie Mae faces racial distinction for the first time ever after the movie incident where she walked into the white lobby with her white friends. She was very confused because she never thought of them as being white before. Then, she realized that because of their whiteness, they were considered to be better than the blacks. She realized how absurd this racial distinction was and tries to find the secret on why the white children are treated better than herself by playing "Doctor" and examining their nude bodies. After her examination, Essie Mae found no differences between her and her white friends. She was still puzzled by the fact that the white folks lived better lives just because of their skin color.
             Essie Mae's confusion in chapter three led me to choosing my first song titled, "Ball Of Confusion (That's What The World Is Today)" by The Temptations. A part of the lyrics to this song that stood out to me was, "Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration, Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation. Ball of confusion. Oh yeah, that's what the world is today." The lyrics deliver a strong political message, saying that the world is being ripped apart because we are segregating people based on the color of their skin, causing the nation to become a big ball of confusion.


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