Moody, born Essie Mae Moody on September 15, 1940, was the oldest of eight children. After her parents split up when she was five or six years old, she grew up with her mother, Elmira aka Toosweet, in Centreville, Mississippi, while her father, Diddly, lived with his new wife, Emma, in nearby Woodville. At a young age Moody began working for white families in the area, cleaning their houses and helping their children with homework for only a few dollars a week, while earning perfect grades in school and helping at Mount Pleasant church. After graduating with honors from a segregated, all-black high school, she attended Natchez Junior College (also all-black) in 1961 on a basketball scholarship.