Books in the news; Coming of Age in Mississippi

Alex Boyd on books in the news. A quick look at a newly published material and books of current interest. Your host is Alex Boyd in the serials department at the University of Illinois Library. In the literary world is a generally accepted maxim that the authors who are most successful at describing periods of social upheaval or revolution are those that have lived either lived through it or have taken part in the events that marked the period and both instances Hiva these individuals blessed with more perception understanding and the ability to place persons and events and their proper perspective can with words capture and convey to the reader an almost and rival totality of their experience. Such is the case with and Moodys autobiography coming of age in Mississippi published by Dial Press and Moody was born and grew up in Wilkinson County Mississippi which is located in the heart of that state's black belt. She traces her like time from her early childhood through high school and college and up to her participation in the early civil rights demonstrations in various parts of

Mississippi which marked the beginning of a new phase in the civil rights movement. The time span of the book from 1940 to the middle 1960s has been a period of rapid change for the black man in America in this period millions of Negroes have made the move from the south to the north or from the country to the city in search of a better life. This movement and its consequent disruptions have made the struggle for racial justice and equality. The single most pressing problem facing America today the major emphasis of the great push in civil rights which began in the early 1960s came from young Northern and Southern black and white college students and A.D. almost from the beginning played an important role in this drama. The eldest child of an impoverished sharecropper and was forced by conditions to become less accustomed to hunger fare and suffering but was never quite able to accept and that the most unnatural lot she very early began to question the way of life that afforded peace rather relative prosperity and security to one group in society

and fair want and despair to another. Perhaps the two most important things illustrated in this work is the shocking conditions of negroes in Mississippi and the tremendous gap between the thinking of older and younger negroes physically missions with enough time money and effort can be altered. But the gulf which developed between Miss moody and her mother as she grew up is symbolic of the differences that exist and outlooks of the generation of negroes as passing and of young Negroes coming of age. Today all the Negroes have for centuries been for the most part unwilling to question the status of opposition and forced by the white man's culture or to rest with the advances they have been able to make with the help of and sometimes in spite of the rules of existence designed by and for whites. And as a result they have remained in a state of passive resignation. Young Blacks like Mr. Moody exhibit an openness daring and aggressiveness that is challenging these old concepts on every front. Their courage and

impatience for change was first illustrated in the sit ins freedom rides and vulgarest registration drives in the South during the early 1960s. Today while some momentum may have been lost some actions and activities seemingly done more out of emotional than rational impulses the freshness and brashness infused into the civil rights struggle of our young can never be underrated or denied. The goals of equality social intellectual and otherwise. I'm more than ever certain of attainment. The retelling of a smoothy story is a significant contribution to the cause of racial justice. For a few more vivid testimonials to what life was like in the South can be found today. Yet even though many changes have been wrought in Mississippi in the five years that have passed since this book ends there are still conditions which are appalling coming of age in Mississippi ended with these lines from the anthem of the civil rights movement we shall overcome we shall overcome we shall overcome someday. To this Miss Mullett pain is a thought.

I wonder I really wonder. Americans can and should only hope that with more young people like her coming of age throughout this country the hope of equality for every man will become a reality. This is been books in the news prepared and presented by Alex Boyd and sponsored by the owner of my state library. This program was distributed by the national educational radio network.