Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977)
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The Transformative Justice Coalition and the Voting Rights Alliance, in honor of Black History Month, are reviving the daily special series devoted to sharing the legacies and stories of the sheroes, heroes, and events in the fight for Black suffrage. This series was created in 2017 and will add several NEW articles this year. In addition to these daily newsletters all February long, this series also incorporates daily social media posts; an interactive calendar; and, website blog posts to spread the word broadly.
Feel free to publish on your social media outlets, with credit given to the Transformative Justice Coalition.
In light of the recent attempts to ban Black History, we are even more pleased to share these stories this year. We encourage everyone in the 18 states that are banning Black History to share these stories broadly!
We encourage everyone to share this series to your networks and on social media under the hashtag #VRABlackHistory. You can also tweet us @TJC_DC to share your own facts.
Others can sign up for the daily articles or view more Black History articles at VotingRightsAlliance.org.
This article was authored by Caitlyn Cobb.
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Note from the author: This article is comprised of quotes from many different articles in order to provide a more comprehensive view of the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer’s fight for civil and equal right and African American women’s suffrage. All sources are linked in green throughout the article.
Today, February 15th, 2023, we honor Fannie Lou Hamer, a seminal figure in the fight for African American voting rights and political power in the 1960’s. Hamer “was a civil rights activist whose passionate depiction of her own suffering in a racist society helped focus attention on the plight of African-Americans throughout the South.”
“Born Fannie Lou Townsend on October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. The daughter of sharecroppers, Hamer began working the fields at an early age. Her family struggled financially, and often went hungry…Married to Perry ‘Pap’ Hamer in 1944, Fannie Lou continued to work hard just to get by. In the summer of 1962, however, she made a life-changing decision to attend a protest meeting. She met civil rights activists there who were there to encourage African Americans to register to vote. Hamer became active in helping with the voter registration efforts.”
“In 1964, working with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Hamer helped organize the 1964 Freedom Summer African-American voter registration drive in her native [home,] Mississippi. At the Democratic National Convention later that year, she was part of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, an integrated group of activists who openly challenged the legality of Mississippi’s all-white, segregated delegation….She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention. The next year, Hamer ran for Congress in Mississippi, but she was unsuccessful in her bid. Along with her political activism, Hamer worked to help the poor and families in need in her Mississippi community.”
“She also set up organizations to increase business opportunities for minorities and to provide childcare and other family services. Hamer died of cancer on March 14, 1977, in Mound Bayou, Mississippi.” “During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at. But none of these things ever deterred her from her work.” Although Fannie Lou Hamer came from a poor background and wasn’t highly educated, she was a fierce advocate who was able to galvanize, mobilize, and inspire a movement.
Click here to learn more about the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer
- The African American Women and the Law Conference (AAWLC) and other supporters declared October 6th as the Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Day of Political Action. In 2016, their “Political Day of Action” focused on the push for voter registration before the closing of voter registration in numerous states on October 8, 9, 10th and 11th. In 2017, their Political Day of Action focused on calling elected officials’ to obtain support for the Resolution introduced by Mark Veasey to make September recognized as “Voting Rights Month”, and also on the upcoming local and state 2017 elections and on the midterm 2018 elections. Events in both years included a twitter town hall and other events to celebrate African American political power, the need for African American women to be elected into office, and celebrated and educated the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer. You can view more by searching “#FLHaction” or “#FannieLouHamerAction” on Twitter and Facebook.
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The Voting Rights Alliance February Newsletter
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