Anne Moody’s Coming of Age in Mississippi is an autobiography of the author’s childhood and youth that emphasizes her growing involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. Moody’s reasons for writing the book include showing how a person can persevere and succeed despite even severe hardships, including racism and extreme poverty, through individual and collective efforts. She offers her own story as an example of how African Americans of her generation struggled to effect positive change in the 1940s through 1960s.

Along with her participation in efforts for desegregation of schools and other public institutions, her activism addressed voting rights and advocacy for the passage of legislation that would guarantee universal protection of civil rights. She also explores the development of different perspectives within the Civil Rights Movement, including her reasons for often diverging from the goals and strategies that the movement’s leadership advocated. Moody also aims to show the varying role of faith and doubt in motivating her political commitment.