This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine
Hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m gonna let it shine,
Hide it under a bushel, NO! I’m gonna let it shine.
Let it shine, Let it shine, Let it shine!
She often said that she was “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” She answered to noone except her God. Her rallying song of non-violence was “This little light of mine.” A woman who had so little, yet stood steadfast and unyielding for so much.
Fannie Lou Hamer, the youngest of twenty children, was born in Montgomery County, Mississippi, on 6th October, 1917. A sharecropper on the Marlow plantation in the Mississippi Delta. In 1942, she married a tractor driver on the plantion, Perry “Pap” Hamer. She was unable to have children because she was sterilized by a doctor without her consent or knowledge. They did adopt two boys and two girls.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Fannie Lou Hamer is well known a fighter in the American Civil Rights Movement. Hamer did not know that African Americans could vote until she attended a a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) meeting at a church in Ruleville. Despite the prevailing literacy laws,she fought for the right to vote in 1962 as a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Fannie believed that Black Americans needed to be educated on various aspects of economics and politics in order to be more successful. When Hamer attempted to register to vote, she was arrested and jailed. The next day her landlord told her that if she did not withdraw her request to vote, she would be forced off her land. Hamer responded by becoming an active member of the SNCC.
After registering herself and working with SNCC, she lost her job, received death threats, and was severely beaten by the police in an effort to intimidate her. After losing her work on the plantation, Hamer was employed as a field secretary of the SNCC and in 1963 she was instrumental in establishing the Delta Ministry, an extensive community development program. Fannie is well-respected for founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. The Democratic Party of Mississippi did not allow Blacks. With the founding of this party, they challenged the all-white makeup of political candidates at the 1964 Democratic Convention. Hamer became a national figure when at the Democratic Party national convention she made a passionate speech challenging the seating of the regular all-white Mississippi delegation. She herself ran for Congress but failed because the prevailing party of the day did not permit her name to be placed on the ballot. However, she received more votes outside of the ballot than did her opponent. Although Lyndon Johnson refused to seat the MFDP, the Democrats agreed that in the future no delegation would be seated from a state where anyone was illegally denied the right to vote.
She not only championed for rights to vote but also fought against the pervasive poverty in the Black community. She promoted economic assistance for Black Americans. In 1968 Hamer founded the Freedom Farms Corporation (FFC) a non-profit venture designed to help poor farming families. It also provided social services and grants for education. She worked with the National Council of Negro Women, organized food co-operatives, and helped convene the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1970.
During the last decade of her life, Fannie was recognized by various national organizations and colleges for her groundbreaking work on behalf of Black Americans. She worked for political, social and economic equality for herself and all African Americans. She fought to integrate the national Democratic party, and became one of the first black delegates to a presidential convention. Her Christian faith was a source of strength for her throughout her life, and she became known in the civil rights movement as a captivating preacher and singer, inspiring others with her moral and physical courage.
Fannie Lou Hamer died in Mound Bayou, Mississippi on 14th March 1977.
”Sometimes it seem like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed. But if I fall, I’ll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom.”
I have to say that until now, I had not heard of Fannie Lou Hamer or should I sadly say that I did not remember learning about her in school. It just proves that more has do be done to become educated in order to be able to work towards lessen oppression.
She taught me that it is important to stand up for what you believe in and never to back down at any cost. She taught me to have the strength to stand up for others who don’t stand up for themselves out of fear. She was such an inspirational civil rights activist. She was a very spiritual person often singing hymn such as “Go Tell it on the mountain” for courage. “It’s her inspiration that gives others the courage to speak up and out and never give up. She would even say that what was the worst that they could do to he, kill her, well they were already trying to do that.” I have learned that no matter what the consequences, you must stand up for what you believe in not just for yourself but for others too.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Harness, Cheryl. Rabble Rousers: 20 Women Who Made a Difference. New York: N.Y.: Dutton Children’s Books, 2003. 920.720973 Harness Lakewood Public Library
Jordan, June. Fannie Lou Hamer. New York: Crowell,1972.
BIO Hamer Lakewood Public Library
Lamb, Brian. Booknotes: Life Stories: Notable Biographers on the People Who Shaped America. New York: Times Books,1999. [920.02 Booknotes Lakewood Public Library
WEB SITES:
The Glass Ceiling Biographies: Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer – SNCC 1960-1966 Six Years of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee
Fannie Lou Hamer / FemBio: Notable Women
Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer – A Woman a Week
Fannie Lou Hamer – by Bonita Jackson
Fannie Lou Hamer Oral History – transcript of an interview for the Mississippi Oral History Program of The University of Southern Mississippi, April 14, 1972.
The Fannie Lou Hamer Project
Who is Fannie Lou Hamer?
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAhamer.htm
http://www.awomanaweek.com/hamer.htm
