This book chronicles the successful struggle of Douglas Conner
to escape poverty and to provide advancement not only for himself
but also for impoverished and oppressed blacks in his home state of
Mississippi. In this poignant autobiography Conner tells of having
to overcome the code that taught that blackness and subordination
were interchangeable, though he never accepted it. His goal of
becoming a physician provided motivation for continued hope. When
he later attended Alcorn State University and then traveled north
to Connecticut and Detroit and still later when he attended the
Army's first integrated classes during World War II, he began to
realize that his dream was possible. In 1950 he achieved it when he
graduated from Howard University as a medical doctor. Thereafter he
established his practice in Starkville, Mississippi and devoted
himself to improving life for countless people. He provided
leadership in the state's Democratic party and the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People and was
instrumental in leading many blacks to the voting booths and in
battling for the desegregation of schools and businesses. In the
foreword to this book Aaron Henry, Dr. Conner's friend of many
years, provides insights into this black physician's importance and
into their common goals during the civil rights movement. For all
readers this book tells what it was like to be a black
Mississippian during the Jim Crow era and in the time of
desegregation. All can learn from it.
Douglas L. Conner (deceased) was a physician in Starkville,
Mississippi and a civil rights activist. John F. Marszalek is Giles
Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Mississippi State University.
Aaron Henry (deceased) was a pharmacist in Clarksdale, Mississippi
and a civil rights activist.
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