Brown Sisters: The Progression Of Maturity

Coming of Age in Mississippi is a memoir written by Anne Moody. It is a detailed life story written from the author’s own personal experiences. The story is broken out into four major life phases, which are, childhood, high school, college and the movement, where Moody details her experiences in each event. Moody does not specifically state when her story begins, but the reader is able to get the feel that it takes place after the Reconstruction Era. It is important to note that by Moody not giving specific dates, her story is timeless and details the ongoing struggles of African Americans in the United States.

“For Colored Girls” is comprised of seven women who represented a different shade of the rainbow. The colors are brown, red, yellow, white, green, orange and blue. Their costumes and make-up transformed each of them and were symbolic of the color their character embodied. The ensemble acting made all of their roles of equal importance, without one dominating the other. These women together formed a bond through their various adversities, gradually taking them from strangers to acquaintances. From an objective view, the audience is allowed to simply observe the events as they take place (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, pg. 82) chronologically. Throughout the movie during some of the conflicting and traumatic scenes, one of the women recites a

The book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is a tale taking place in the jim crow era. The book gave you a good sense of how the North and South felt like two different worlds during the civil rights movement. Although Jacqueline Woodson is now a renowned writer, things weren’t always the best in her life.

A black man, Arsenio Hall is the executive producer of his own talk show. Which is one of the most democratized forms of television shows. Often times his show brings the raw, honest truth from the hearts, minds, and souls of black Americans. This segment right here was one of the realest moments. Arsenio starts the show by stating that he had to bring her back to kick off the current episode that was being filmed. This sends a very strong message to the media and society that the voices of not just black people, but young black women will and must be heard. The creative design of this set and the director's choice of shots suggests a calm, yet powerful stance on a subject. This vision is accomplished by the soft blue, purple, and hint of green lights that contrasts the color of her skin and outfit and allows her to pull away from her background. If they would have used colors with a reddish hue, it could create a feel of anger or vengeance. The bluish tone can also suggest the confidence and intelligence of the speaker herself. Additionally the strong spotlight on the speaker states that she is the main focus so pay attention.

The book Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson is about Jackie and how her childhood during the time of slavery and racism, leads her to be able to become a writer. The book shows how someone’s identity isn’t just based on how you’re born. Identity is how you react to things that are happening on the outside and also things that are happening on the inside. Because of where Jacqueline was living, her family, and the time period she was living in she was able to be inspired and become a writer.

The agonized expressions on the faces of her two sisters; the terror of their children, who were

“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.

If society was asked what defines “coming of age,” what would it say? Some would say people come of age when they act more mature, think grown up thoughts, or do certain actions. This quote by someone unknown helps form an explanation of what coming of age is: “Maturity doesn’t mean age; it means sensitivity, manners, and how you react.” In the literature piece “The First Part Last,” the author Angela Johnson writes about two teenagers, Bobby and Nia, who struggle with the difficulties of teen pregnancy. Throughout the book, they both face many hardships that put their relationship, patience, and responsibility to the test. With the help of a red balloon, a basketball, and family pictures in a doctor’s office, Bobby comes of age after paying attention to these symbols and signs throughout the novel.

At an early age many children are oblivious to issues in society like race relations, and they are easily influenced by their parents. The book Coming of Age by Anne Moody, takes place during the civil rights era in the United States. All of the white children stop playing with Anne after an incident in at the movie theater. These kids were influenced by their parents who didn’t want them interacting with African Americans. Anne Moody’s learns about the significance of race in American social life as well as the differences between the lives of blacks and whites through her experiences at home, school and work. These experiences help prepare Anne to join the civil rights movement. At home, Anne experienced firsthand the poverty many African Americans faced, she experienced discrimination and intimidation in the work employer Mrs. Burke and at the diner by white customers, and she also dealt with segregated schooling.

Across several different cultures, there are different ways in which people of a community recognize the emergence of a young girl into womanhood. In the United States the most common is the famous Sweet Sixteen which as in the name states: relates to being sixteen years old, getting a car, and having some sort of celebration to commemorate the birthday. Among others include the Quinceanera which is usually equated with Mexico and Bat Mitzvahs which is a Jewish girl’s rite of passage. Another rite of passage, called Kinaalda, is a puberty ceremony that holds the same importance and significance among the Navajo tribe as their creation story. Unlike American society, during the people’s lifetime there is not a time between child and adult. In the Navajo culture it seems that it is more plausible to say that the time between being a child and adult or as stated by Leighton and Kluckhohn (1947), “physical maturity and social maturity are more nearly coincidental.” Meaning unlike the American culture where the gap between childhood and adulthood is filled with an adolescence, and in the Navajo tribe this gap is not prolonged and instead this transition is commemorated by a four-night ceremony. This process begins at the Navajo girl’s first menstruation and is a way to announce to the whole community that she has become a woman. In earlier marriage customs, a year or so after the ceremony the girl would be considered ready for marriage; as a result, some felt that “a girl’s

Anne Moody learned about the importance of race early in her life. Having been born and raised in an impoverished black family from the South, she experienced first-hand the disparity in the lives of Whites and Blacks.

Ann Moody covers various aspects of her life that culminated in her being involved with the Civil Rights Movements in her book Coming of Age in Mississippi. Moody was born and brought up in very difficult times. As an African American, her early life was deeply turbulent. She was a witness to many atrocities that were committed within the state. Her early childhood experiences helped nurture her to become directly involved in the Civil Rights. Mississippi was of the states that experienced too many resistance and crashes between whites and African Americans. Mississippi had rejected the abolition of slave trade and instead held steadfast to its racial discrimination and racial abuses. Looking deeper into her childhood, one can easily tell that Moody became involved with the Civil Rights due to her inner motivations and character traits. The character traits set her apart from her family and made her resist status quo.

Anne Moody is the author of Coming of Age in Mississippi which was originally published in 1968. Anne Moody is a famous African American Mississippi author who was born in Wilkinson County, Mississippi on September 15, 1940. She was the eldest of nine children born to Fred and Elnire Moody. While growing up in Mississippi, Moody attended a segregated school where she was an outstanding scholar. Moody cleaned houses in order to keep food on the table and clothes on her family members’ backs. In 1961, Moody earned scholarship in basketball to Natchez Junior College where she was involved in sit-ins, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to fight for civil rights for blacks in the south. Upon her completion at Natchez Junior College, she went to Tougaloo College where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in 1964. Moody continued her civil rights activities North at Cornell University where she served as a civil rights project coordinator from 1964 to 1965. Moody joined all of these civil rights groups partially because of the lynching of Emmitt Till. Moody’s literature includes Coming of Age in Mississippi, Mr. Death: Four Stories and Famous People Stories: 4th Grade Reading Level. Moody’s books have helped people understand what life was like in the segregated South before and during the civil rights movement. Moody recently passed away on February 5, 2015 at the age of 74.

Anne Moody, a black activist in the twentieth century, wrote an autobiography, Coming of Age in Mississippi, which illustrated how life was like growing up poor and black in the rural south. She wrote in details of her life living in the racist society and what it meant to be black in the South twentieth century. Readers were able to understand her personal thoughts as well as her memories of the fight growing up in the south and her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Moody grew up with a poor family and faced many challenges throughout her life. Anne Moody’s life is representative of the black experience in the American twentieth century by experiencing racism, and unfair prejudice; but also being persistent in her life and with the struggle to defeat white oppression.

The difference in attitude and treatment towards men and women from society is shown in “Young Goodman Brown”,in this case, I am going to analyze the anti-feminist side. There are multiple points in this short story that aid my point. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne may have written this based on his time when differences towards genders occurred. Women are portrayed as powerless but rather innocent victims while men are seen as the more powerful individuals, making all the decisions for them and their families. If people do not follow the roles their gender associate with, the conflicts between them and society may uprise with it.