The Journey towards becoming somebody: a study of three black women's autobiographies from the post-civil rights era

Abstract

An analysis of three autobiographies written by African American women who were activists in the civil rights movement. The autobiographies are Anne Moody's "Coming of Age in Mississippi" (1968), Endesha Ida Mae Holland's "From the Mississippi Delta" (1997) and Unita Blackwell's "Barefootin': Life Lessons from the Road to Freedom" (2006). This study looks at how the sociological factors, segregation and the civil rights era influence the autobiographer's motives. The outline of the thesis includes the construction of narrative, the construction of identity and an analysis of racial awareness in crucial events during the civil rights era.