Fannie Lou Hamer Centennial Tribute
Fannie Lou Hamer Centennial Tribute
From the new and original documentary, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America. Please visit fannielouhamerdocumentary.com for more information or visit us on Facebook (Fannie Lou Hamer’s America) and Twitter @FLHAmerica. You can also donate towards our film, which is currently in production, by visiting our website at www.fannielouhamerdocumentary.com. Thanks for your support!
Fannie Lou Hamer: Stand Up
Civil rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer is remembered by those who worked side by side with her in the struggle for voting rights. An African-American sharecropper from the Mississippi Delta, Hamer’s difficulty registering to vote in 1962 led to her career as an outspoken activist, congressional candidate, and fierce fighter for the rights of all.
Fannie Lou Hamer (/ˈheɪmər/; born Fannie Lou Townsend; October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977) was an American voting rights activist, a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, and philanthropistwho worked primarily in Mississippi. She was instrumental in organizing Mississippi‘s Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was the vice-chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which she represented at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Early life and education
Hamer was born in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi, to Ella and James Lee Townsend, and was the youngest of 20 children. Her family moved to Sunflower County, Mississippi in 1919 to work as sharecroppers on the plantation of W. D. Marlow. Starting at the age of six, Hamer picked cotton with her family. She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse on the plantation, from 1924 to 1930, at which time she had to drop out to help support her family. By the age of 13, Hamer could pick 200–300 pounds of cotton daily. to learn more about Fannie Lou Hamer go to the link below:
