My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement
Must-read memoir of the segregated South in the 1960s.
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A Lot or a Little?
The parents' guide to what's in this book.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Willie Mae Brown's My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement is an unforgettable memoir of one of the most turbulent and divisive times in American history, told through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl. Brown contrasts her life growing up in a loving and supportive Black community in Selma, Alabama, with the brutally harsh reality that surrounded them. A reality in which White citizens of Selma constantly used violence and intimidation against their Black neighbors. Her community is terrorized by posses of armed hooded men riding through their neighborhoods, Black men are hunted down and hanged simply for looking at a White woman, and civil rights protestors are beaten and jailed. The author cautions readers early on that she'll be using "Negro" and the "N" word, as they were terms commonly used by Selma's White citizens. My Selma is filled with characters who show great courage and perseverance against often monumental odds.
What's the Story?
Brown begins MY SELMA with seemingly idyllic memories of her "beautiful" city, Selma, Alabama, with its fields of white cotton and corn, red clay roads, and air filled with the scent of sage pork sausages, ham, and biscuits. Her close-knit community had preachers, doctors, sharecroppers, and business owners, and everyone was ready to step up and help someone in need. Then the tone changes abruptly as she writes of a Selma where Black neighborhoods are terrorized by shotgun-toting White men, the "N" word is constantly and casually used, and the White community is determined to keep their Black neighbors segregated and unable to vote or eat at lunch counters. Against this backdrop of racism and violence, she shares stories of growing up in a vibrant and supportive community, being one of the first Black families to own a home on a street with White neighbors, working as a babysitter for a White single mother, confronting the indignities of everyday life (public restrooms that were for Whites only), and going with her mother to hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak.
Is It Any Good?
This unforgettable memoir makes a powerful statement about courage and hope as a Black community confronts the unrelenting racism of its White neighbors. My Selma is an unsparing recounting of a violent time in American history, and readers should be prepared to be disturbed by the violence in many of Brown's stories. In a few instances, the book's dialogue is in a Southern dialect ("I think she just shamed shy-faced right now, that's all") that may be challenging for some readers to navigate.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk to their kids about the courage and perseverance shown by the Black community in My Selma. How were they able to find the strength to stand up for their rights?
Why do you think racism and racial violence are still so common?
Is there an injustice in your community you believe people should protest against?
Book Details
- Author: Willie Mae Brown
- Genre: Autobiography
- Topics: Activism, Book Characters, Great Girl Role Models, History, Middle School
- Character Strengths: Courage, Perseverance
- Book type: Non-Fiction
- Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
- Publication date: January 3, 2023
- Publisher's recommended age(s): 10 - 14
- Number of pages: 230
- Available on: Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Award: Common Sense Selection
- Last updated: January 25, 2023
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We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide
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For kids who love civil rights stories and memoirs
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