Born in Greenwood, Mississippi, the heart of the Mississippi Delta, Endesha Ida Mae Holland came of age as the civil rights movement was changing the lives of black Mississippians. Dirt poor, she dropped out of high school and became a prostitute when she was barely into her teens. By the time she was 18 years old, Holland had served two terms in the county workhouse for theft and for assault. A chance encounter led her to become involved with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and she became an activist and organizer, taking a new path that eventually led her to the University of Minnesota, where she earned a doctorate and became a college professor. From the Mississippi Delta is a gritty, inspiring memoir.