![]() However, this upward trend is neither as rapid as it should be – we lag behind dozens of other nations – nor is it uniformly experienced by people in the United States.” 2 “People are living longer, healthier, and more productive lives. Over the past 50 years, the United States has made significant progress in improving health outcomes for the nation as a whole. ![]() ![]() The legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer is an example of personal empowerment and resilience, and how social factors, broadly considered, contribute to the health status of individuals and communities. Now I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” 1 The cumulative impact of these and other stressful life experiences negatively impacted her health, but she remained committed to securing her civil rights, because in her now famous words “All my life I’ve been sick and tired. She had been jailed, beaten, and threatened for her advocacy, but didn’t back down. Her sweet, compassionate spirit won’t be forgotten.Īs we celebrate African-American history, let us not forget Hamer’s contributions, as well as the contributions of so many other African-Americans towards a more united and accepting country.Fannie Lou Hamer – voting rights activist, civil rights leader, and humanitarian, captured the nation’s attention during the 1964 Democratic National Convention, when she described the injustices she and others in her community had endured in their fight for the right to vote. Hamer dedicated her life to fighting prejudice, discrimination and oppression. Years later, she founded Freedom Farms Corporation, a land cooperative that provided poor farmers with land to farm, live on and eventually purchase. While she was blocked from appearing on the ballot, she went on to appear at rallies and spoke to college students around the U.S.Īlong with her political activism, Hamer dedicated her time assisting the poor in her community by testifying before the Senate’s Subcommittee on Poverty in 1967. Hamer’s activism expanded when she ran for Congress in the Mississippi Democratic primary in 1964. Hamer’s moving testimony contributed to the DNC changing the rules in 1968 to require equal representation of state delegations at national party conventions. On national television, her testimony depicted voter discrimination, violence against herself and other African-Americans in Mississippi. She continued as a voice for the civil rights struggle in Mississippi when the MFDP challenged the legitimacy of the all-white state delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She went on to help register other African-American voters in her community and soon took her fight for civil rights to the national stage.Īt the time, the Mississippi Democratic Party excluded African-Americans, so Hamer aided in founding the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in 1964. In June 1963, Hamer and other activists were beaten by police officers, but she did not let the scars keep her from fighting. In 1962, Hamer became a field-secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and with determination, successfully registered to vote. Her activism garnered threats, and she almost lost her job however, she was not deterred. During one attempt to register to vote she, and others, were stopped by police, arrested and beaten. The attempt was unsuccessful because of the infamous literacy tests. When Hamer learned that African-Americans had the right to vote she volunteered to take the trip to Indianola, Mississippi, to register. She met her husband, Perry Hamer, on the plantation where she worked. As the youngest of 20 children, she was a sharecropper most of her life. 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. Hamer emerged as an active participant during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.” These were famous words spoken by a courageous, passionate and determined Fannie Lou Hamer. 90th Missile Wing Equal Opprotunity Office.
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