“There are two things we should all care about: Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.” Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer 1917-1977
Born Montgomery County, Mississippi, USA A women’s rights ac�vist, community organizer, a great leader in the Civil Rights movement , and an American. Founder of the Na�onal Women’s Poli�cal Caucus . She loved reading and excelled in spelling bee contests. When the planta�on owner realized her literacy she was given the task of record and �mekeeper. A�er marriage she and her husband , “Pap” Hamer , wanted to have children. Unfortunately, she had been sterilized without her consent. This was a common method in Mississippi to control the popula�on that mainly targeted poor Black women. Nonetheless, Fannie and “Pap” adopted four little girls. In the 1950’s Fannie became involved in vo�ng rights for Blacks. Because she atempted to vote, Fannie was shot at fi�een �mes during a drive - by to discourage her to vote and to thwart her from galvanizing other Blacks to vote. I guess if I'd had any sense, I'd have been a little scared—but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember. — Fannie Lou Hamer She co- founded the Mississippi Freedom Democra�c Party. It challenged the all - white Mississippi delega�on at the 1964 Democra�c Conven�on. In 1968, the MFDP was finally seated a�er the Democra�c Party adopted a clause that demanded e q uality of representa�on from their states ' delega�ons. In 19 72 , H amer was elected as a national delegate.
Debbi e B. Ramsey Founder & Executive Directo r UniFIED Efforts, Inc.®
Thank you, Fannie, from all of us who continue to reap the dividends of each of your unglorified and selfless efforts.
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