Fannie Lou Hamer
10x10in
2023
Fannie Lou Hamer was a fearless civil rights leader and voting rights activist who played a vital role in the struggle for Black equality in the 1960s. Known for her powerful voice and unwavering courage, she co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to challenge the state’s all-white Democratic delegation and fight voter suppression. Her televised testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention exposed the brutality of racism in the South and inspired a nation.
Born in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi, and raised in Sunflower County, Hamer was the youngest of 20 children in a family of sharecroppers. Her lived experience with poverty and racial injustice shaped her activism. In 1962, after attempting to register to vote, she was fired from her job and brutally beaten by police—a moment that only deepened her commitment to justice. Mississippi, with its long history of disenfranchisement, became both her battleground and her source of strength.
Hamer’s legacy extends far beyond the borders of Mississippi. She helped organize Freedom Summer, supported the creation of Freedom Schools, and famously declared, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Through grassroots organizing, public speaking, and unshakable faith, she became a symbol of resistance and empowerment. Her work helped pave the way for the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and continues to inspire movements for justice today.