Anne Moody plays a strong role in the civil rights movement. As a child she faced many challenges growing up as a poor black girl. Yet, despite these circumstances all those setbacks inspired her to move on. Moody was determined to make a change in the community and she would stop at nothing.
When growing up Anne encountered many problems. Her uncle George Lee used to beat her when he would baby-sit her and her little sister Adline. Their house caught on fire once because her uncle was trying to burn her. In addition, her parents separated because her father began to gamble and come home when he pleased. Her child hood was extremely difficult; she was the oldest of nine children. Still Anne Moody chooses to succeed. She was Valedictorian of her class and received scholarships to go to college.
The first time Moody was really insulted by segregation, was when she heard about the murder of Emmet Till. Emmet Till was a young boy from Greenwood, who was killed for whistling at a white girl. This incident really affected Moody. She was scared, hurt, angered and confused. The death of Emmet Till was Anne's inspiration to fight for the rights of blacks. Moody said that she knew the fear of hunger and poverty, but this was the first time that she faced the fear of being black.
The death of Emmet inspired Anne to ask questions and to get more knowledge on the black movement. Her teacher Mrs. Rice informed Moody about the NAACP and told her many stories. Moody was shocked to hear about all the horrible acts that were being done to blacks. Mrs. Rice also told Anne that she must keep that information to herself because it could get them into trouble. Basically, it was understood that the Negroes in Centreville were not allowed to discuss these types of things.
Moody was really affected by Emmet's death, but all the other incidents gave her the strength to seek change. For example, the burning of The Taplan's house, the death of Jerry and the death of Samuel O"Quinn, a NAACP member.