Keyanna McFarland

A Place Called Home

by Andora Wade Campbell 

A Book Review by Keyanna McFarland 

. In A Place Called Home, Andora Wade Campbell gives an informative depiction of the hardships of growing up black in Mississippi during the 1900s. Andora shares how, even though life wasn't perfect, her family still managed to get by and make the most of their time together. 

She tells of a time when everything was segregated; for example, how restrooms for whites were nicer than those for blacks. Many of the white people treated black people unfairly, she recalls, forcing them to address them strictly as “Sir” and ‘Ma’am”. Throughout all this mistreatment, she maintains, there were a handful of nice white people who saw through race and actively tried to help black families in need. Mr. Mayo was one of those people, Andora says, who occasionally stopped by and gave her brothers and sisters snacks. They were incredibly grateful for everything he gave them, considering they had never had enough money to buy anything and barely had enough for dinner.

  Luckily, Andora spent most of her young life on the family farm, where they had homegrown food to get by in life. Things were unfair, she states, and most of the systems were set in place to keep black families down. Banks regularly gave out loans to black farmers because they knew they could just repossess their land if they had a bad year. She remembers that her family never had any severe issues with this. The only time her father was in trouble with money was when he was in debt with Wright, his father-in-law, and he eventually wiped the debt out when Wright was on his deathbed.

  The author reveals traits of being a hardworking woman with many great role models around to guide her. She describes her father, Jessie, as a “people-person” who told amazing stories. She describes her mother, Martha, as a ‘Sophisticated Lady’ and often admires how hardworking and organized she was. She and her siblings made their best effort to take care of their parents until they died. They even respected their specific wishes, like where they wanted to be buried and what flowers they wanted on their graves.

  Andora expressed how you should never be afraid to ask for help from people you love and trust. The moral of her story is to cherish your time with others and never give up. Even when times are very tough, you can work to make things better.