"Coming of Age in Mississippi"

The book Coming of Age in Mississippi by Anne Moody gives us three examples of effective, nonviolent protest. The influence of dramatic rebellion done in the correct form can be quite a profound statement. The use of one's will to demonstrate disagreements with others by protest in a nonviolent way is often the only effective means of communication when other parties will not listen to words. The words "Beatnik" and "Hippie" bring to mind peace sign displaying, free love people, and these people were able to accomplish much through the means of primarily nonviolent action.

To best develop an understanding of nonviolent social protest and its background, it is important to understand the organizations and influence of those organizations on Essie Mae.

The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) help students and people in need of fair treatment . "Founded Feb 12,1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest, largest and most widely recognized grassroots-based civil rights organization. Its more than half-million members and supporters throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in the communities, conduction voter mobilizations and monitoring of equal opportunity in the public and private sectors."2 The book does not explain any of this as background, which is unfortunate as Essie Mae was very involved and helpful in forming the foundation for this organization.

The SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) is an organization that helped establish a forum for students. The organization has grown and is still in practice today. This organization provided much needed support in times of hardships for Essie Mae.

The first protest in the book by Moody is when Essie Mae refuses to wash all the windows in the library. There is personal conflict between Essie Mae and Mrs. Adams the girls basketball coach. In the dorm room, Miss Adams "had posted her punishment list"2 and Essie Mae's name was the first one. Essie Mae and the Coach have issues that are not resolved and the Dean of the school is called in to smooth things out. The Dean, not able to resolve the conflict, calls in the President of the school. The attention of the school President is required to resolve the problem. This interaction plays an important part later in the book. By protesting the rules of the girls basketball team, the team relationship changed for all the girls. Essie Mae did suffer some set backs from the protest by being droped to second string on the team, but she also proved a point.

The second protest was when the grits given to the students were infested with maggots. Essie Mae refused to eat and President Buck was called to handle the situation. The students in the cafeteria all refused to eat, causing attention and getting publicity. The results were improved food preparation conditions and the fixing of a leaky pipe in the pantry. By standing her ground, Essie Mae's results created improvements enjoyed by all of the students.

During her senior year in school, Essie Mae protested in a Woolworth’s segregated lunch counter. This brought her fame but no fortune from the paparazzi. The protest was very peaceful and organized on the students behalf. The law enforcement was violent (something we see going on even today). Even when provoked by the law enforcement, the students did not succumb to violence and achieved effective results through the use of nonviolent protest.

The social movements of students and citizens throughout the years have helped to equalize a number of unfair laws in our government. The protesting by Essie Mae started in the early 1960’s was much like that of Woodstock. The age of free love and less war was the result of people wanting a change - a change without war or violence.

Cited Works

1. Moody,Anne, Coming of Age in Mississippi, New York,New York, P 240.
2.http.www.naacp.org/about/history
3.http.www.sncc50thanniversary.org//sncc.html