WHM#42 Fannie Lou Hamer In the summer of 1962, Hamer made a life-changing decision to attend a protest meeting. Hamer was one of a small group of African Americans in her area who decided to register themselves. She was fired from her job and driven from the plantation she had called home for nearly two decades—just for registering to vote. During the course of her activist career, Hamer was threatened, arrested, beaten, and shot at. She was severely injured in 1963 in a Winona, Mississippi jail. She and two other activists were taken in by police after attending a training workshop. Hamer was beaten so badly that she suffered permanent kidney damage. In 1964, Hamer helped found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, which was established in opposition to her states all-white delegation to that years Democratic convention. She brought the civil rights struggle in Mississippi to the attention of the entire nation during a televised session at the convention. She helped establish the National Womens Political Caucus in 1971.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 06:18:52 +0000
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