Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry Short Summary

Mildred D. Taylor introduces the readers to Cassie Logan. She is nine years old and resides in Mississippi. During those times, racial discrimination was prevalent. Besides, it was also a period of economic hardship because of the depression. Cassie has a father who is a railroad worker, and her mama is a teacher. She also has three brothers. As opposed to the other black families, the Logan family owns the land.

Together with her brothers, Cassie attends a school with both African and American children though they are segregated. The school that has African children receives less money compared to the one with white children. Cassie and the other children in her school are forced to use old books. Moreover, the bus carrying white children splashes dirty water towards Cassie and her brothers every morning as they go to school. To revenge, they dig ditches of the road, which leads to the bus having an accident. The white children are not carried to school for two weeks because of the poor condition of the bus. The whites attack and kill the blacks and burn their property. The Logan family instigates the other blacks to boycott Wallace’s shop.

As Papa is away in railroad works, the family struggles to keep safe. Mama is fired from her teaching position for telling people to fight for their rights. Papa is also involved in an accident and suffers a broken leg. Therefore, he cannot continue working. The family no longer has a proper income source.

To stop the lynching of TJ, Papa starts a fire on the farm. The mob made of the local farmers is forced to save their crops, leaving TJ alone. TJ is arrested but not killed. TJ’s safety has come at a cost because JT’s land is ruined.