Explanation:
Annie Johnson needs to search for
a job after her husband left.
She is African American, has two children, and
is barely literate so her choices are very small.
She did not want to work as a householder and she
didn't want to leave the children in the care of anyone else.
Then she conceived the notion of making the mills
work for her by cooking lunches for the people there.
She managed to become a good little business man by opting
to take a different direction for herself instead of joining a herd.