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Sto caricando le informazioni... Fannie Lou Hamer: America's Freedom Fighting Womandi Maegan Parker Brooks
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Appartiene alle Serie
Biography & Autobiography.
History.
Women's Studies.
Nonfiction.
HTML:In 1964, Fannie Lou Hamer delivered a heart-wrenching testimony before the Democratic National Convention's (DNC) Credentials Committee. In this speech, Hamer represented both the concerns of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) and the limits of American democracy when she proclaimed: "I question America. Is this the land of the free and the home of the brave where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily? Because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?" This is the speech that sent President Lyndon B. Johnson into a state of outright panic, as he diverted the media's attention away from Hamer's stinging indictment of the nation he led. This is the speech that left most Credentials Committee members in tears, forced Johnson to negotiate with the MFDP, and compelled the Democratic Party to vow they would never again seat a segregated delegation. And this is the speech that television networks, made wise to Johnson's diversionary tactics, replayed during their evening programs, thereby bringing Fannie Lou Hamer into the living rooms of Americans across the nation. As significant as the 1964 DNC speech is, this book will underscore that Hamer's testimony was but one moment within a remarkable life that spanned fifty-nine tumultuous years in the history of American race relations. For the first forty-four years of her life, Hamer lived on sharecropping plantations, all the while learning life lessons from her family, the Black Baptist religious tradition, and from the oppressive white supremacist mores surrounding her. Once Hamer's life path intersected with the mid-century Civil Rights Movement, she spent fifteen years (1962-1977) traveling from the South to the North—and even to the West Coast of Africa—advocating civil rights, economic justice, and interracial cooperation. Hamer shared the platform with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, who introduced her to an audience in Harlem as "the country's number one freedom fighting woman." This accessible biography will enrich public memory about Hamer by telling not only the significant story of her riveting testimony, but also by recounting a life filled with triumphs, tragedies, and accompanying lessons for contemporary audiences. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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 Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni...GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)323.092Social sciences Political Science Civil and political rights Civil Rights Biography And History BiographyClassificazione LCVotoMedia: (5)
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I first heard of Fannie Lou Hamer when I was struggling to find a focus for a quilt celebrating women's contributions to freedom. I contacted a professor of African American Studies at our son's school who referred me to Freedom's DaughtersThe Unsung Heroines of the Civil Rights Movement from 1830 to 1970 by Lynn Olson. It was just the inspiration I needed.
After completing my quilt I Will Lift My Voice Like a Trumpet, which appeared in two national juried quilt shows, I continued reading biographies of leaders in the abolitionist movement and Civil Rights, which brings me to Brook's new biography of Hamer, subtitled America's Freedom Fighting Woman.
At the heart of Hamer's story is the fight to end voter discrimination, a battle that is ongoing to this very day. People in power are afraid of the power of the people and use every method possible to limit their voice.
For Hamer, seeking to vote in Mississippi in the 1960s, that fight included huge sacrifices. Arrested, beaten, and raped, the attack permanently destroyed her health.
Hamer could not be stopped. She knew first hand the suffering of the people. Her own daughter was a victim of malnutrition and the lack of affordable and available health care. Hamer saw her beloved community starving when the cotton jobs disappeared. White Supremacists literally blocked governmental assistance. Without a political voice, the poor--white and black--were powerless victims.
Hamer's crusade was born in her Christian faith and she raised her voice in hymns and speeches across the country, working with all the important leaders from Malcolm X and Stokley Carmichael to Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis.
Hamer was broadly a human rights activist. As a Black Feminist, she appeared with Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. Hamer was pro-life, distraught over a forced hysterectomy. She was an anti-war voice.
Hamer didn't only talk and sing, she ran for political office and created the Freedom Farm Collective to provide food to thousands in her starving county.
Give us food and it will be gone tomorrow. Give us land and the tools to work it and we'll feed ourselves forever.~ Fannie Lou Hamer
Hamer's life demonstrates the power of 'ordinary people.' As a nation, we remember Martin Luther King, Jr. and other African American leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, especially the martyrs who gave their lives. It is important that we remember women like Hamer who rose up from the most powerless class in America and relentlessly stood up to power.
Brooks has given us a heroine whose example is much needed in these troubling times.
I was given access to a free egalley by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. (