Amber Toussle: A Short Story

“We can’t let them get away with this. We can’t let them get away with calling us the n-word. I say we teach them a lesson.

Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi is a narrated autobiography depicting what it was like to grow up in the South as a poor African American female. Her autobiography takes us through her life journey beginning with her at the age of four all the way through to her adult years and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. The book is divided into four periods: Childhood, High School, College and The Movement. Each of these periods represents the process by which she "came of age" with each stage and its experiences having an effect on her enlightenment. She illustrates how important the Civil Rights Movement was by detailing the economic, social, and racial injustices against African Americans she experienced.

Coming of Age in Mississippi, which is the autobiography of Anne Moody, shows readers what it was like to be a poor, black Southerner during the mid 1900s. Anne tells about experiences from her early life, high school years, college years, and her participation in the civil rights movement. She continuously struggled, but she always tried to be her own hero. Through Anne Moody’s autobiography, readers can see how the South truly was and how it affected the life experiences of African-Americans.

In Cochran’s Mills, Pennsylvania, May 5, 1864; the rebellious little girl was born. Michael Cochran, Nellie’s father, played a big role in her journey. According to www.pbs.org, “he was a wealthy landowner, judge, and businessman.” The little town in Pennsylvania that she grew up in was named after her father. Fourteen children, not including herself, she came from a big family. Mary Jane Kennedy Cochran, her mother, had five children with Michael; the other ten came from Michael’s previous marriage. At only six years old, “Pinky’s” father died, leaving nothing in his second family’s names. Mother not competent to support herself and the large family financially, she remarried as well as Elizabeth, stepping in to help and enrolled at Indiana Normal School

The book “Coming of Age in Mississippi” By Anne Moody is an autobiography and talks about the lifestyle of growing up as a Negro in the rural south during horrid times for blacks. Moody was born on September 15, 1940 and died just last year on February 5, 2015. Moody starts her story from the beginning of child hood living with her mother and siblings. She was a brilliant student and also had the motivation for doing her best, but the barriers that blocked her simply seemed impossible to pass, she was a black female. It is noted that in Centreville, where she lived, 8th grade was the highest education for Negro children (28). Whites on the other hand had much more access to literally everything. It wasn’t until about the age of 7 when Moody played with other white children for the first time, this was how segregated the lives were. When including race Moody’s mother always seemed to hide things from Moody and that’s what sprung her curiosity. Moody was often scolded for asking questions that arose like, why the theaters had white and black sections.

Anne Moody’s autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, depicts the various stages of her life from childhood, to high school, then to college, and ends with her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. In the novel, Anne tells the reader her story through events, conversations, and emotional struggles. The reader can interpret various elements of cultural knowledge that Anne Moody learned from her family and community as a child. Her understanding of the culture and race relations of the time period was shaped by many forces. Anne Moody’s family, community, education, interactions with various races, and her experiences outside of her hometown, shaped her into a devout activist for equal rights. As a child, the most important

Anne Moody's “Coming of Age in Mississippi is a narrative autobiography of life as a poor African American woman during, a time of intense prejudice and segregation in American history. Anne Moody’s autobiography follows her journey beginning at the age of four until her involvement with the Civil Rights movement. She recounts the horrors and shame of growing up as an African American in the South. She describes the extreme poverty, brutality, and violence which all African Americans shared. She chooses to come out of the struggle a victor and be a pioneer for the freedom and justice.

“Moody, Anne. Coming of Age in Mississippi. New York: Dial, 1968. Print.” Anne Moody was a determined, educated, and an inspiring civil rights activist who was born in Gloster, Mississippi. Born on September 15th, 1940-passed away February 5th, 2015 Anne Moody dedicated her life to making the United States a better place for not only African American’s, but pleaded for equality amongst all races as well. Awarded best book of the year in 1969 by the National Library Association, Anne Moody writes her autobiography “Coming of Age in Mississippi” is an effort to inform her readers about her journey throughout life as an adolescent living in the rural grounds of Gloster, Mississippi, to her times of adulthood working as a subsequent civil rights activist in New York. Anne Moody shares with us the chilling details on why she became a civil rights activist and growing up as a colored female during a time of racial segregation, and humiliation; Along with many other personal experiences, such as losing her childhood friend, and living in a one parent home that puts an intense strain amongst her family’s’ poverty.

“ Then this colored champion lets those same white boys call him Shine — or Sambo at the Officers Club. They laugh at his blues songs, and he just smiles— can’t talk, barely read or write his own name — and don’t care! He’ll tell you they like him — or that colored folks ain’t supposed to have but so much sense, (intense) Do you know the damage

“Niggers don’t dress grand.” I had made a decision then. He would do whatever he wanted anyway. I was from Bayo, and I had a child growing inside me and I would stand proud. (250)

‘Hush, Rufe.’ I put my hand on his shoulder to quiet him. Apparently I’d hit the nerve I’d aimed at. ‘I didn’t say you were trash. I said how’d you like to be called trash. I see you don’t like it. I don’t like being called nigger either.’ (61)

Van Gogh got excited over the look of these trees and painted them. Some of his paintings of the trees represented life, others represented how he felt about Christ in Gethsemane, and others represented a combination of both of these things. An example of an art piece that had a lot to do with religion was Olive Trees with Alpilles in the Background (Fig. 6). This piece was painted with Christ in Gethsemane in mind. He wanted to create a piece that used a more purer and serence sense of nature without using religious imagery. With this piece “he wanted to show it was possible to paint the meaning of Christ in the Garden of Olives, the garden of Gethsemane where Christ prayed the night before his crucifixion, without aiming straight for the historical Garden of Gethsemane.” Vincent had done religious paintings before, he actually painted Christ in the arden of Olives twice before, but both times he decided not to paint the images of Christ since, as he said in a letter to his brother Theo, he did not want to “do figures of such importance without a model.” Van Gogh actually had begun to avoid doing religious work around this time for both aesthetic and moral reasons. Van Gogh had rejected what he believed to be his parents’ narrow religionious views and went for a much different view, one where life itself almost didn’t seem to matter of have purpose, something close to Nihilism. Vincent instead tried to find meaning in the cycles of nature and how they related to the

Yet, here he was receiving a gift from this intimidating man. “I thought you wanted to kill me.” Says Olaf, “ I wouldn’t hurt you. I like you. You a good man. You helped me.” Jim replies. As Jim is set to leave Olaf says “You’re a good man too… You’re a big black good man.” Even in his realization that Jim, despite his offensive size and demeanor, is a decent human being he cannot shake the color of his

Approaching her place of sanctuary, the mall, Tiffani Amber had a wide grin on her face revealing her pearly white teeth. The mall was a weekly ritual for Tiffani, she has every shirt you could think of from Pacsun to Nike clothes. As she hops out of her Jeep rubicon unlimited, you can see a petite, platinum blonde haired girl with crystal clear blue eyes that sparkle. Her makeup is perfectly contoured with eye lashes so long and black, they comfortably meet her eyebrows and her hair is long and she always makes sure it's as straight as a pin. With her partner in crime, Courtney, they head over to the food court to get some starbucks. Since they're both obsessed with their weight, they ALWAYS make sure to get a fat- free small caramel iced

Softball is a difficult sport to play. While playing the game, players must follow the rules. Some rules can change, kind of like people. It is up to that person to make a positive or negative change. In the novel Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, many of the characters change dramatically. If Miss Havisham was still alive in this novel, she would make positive changes for herself, Estella, and Pip.