Born in 1917 - Ms. Hamer became known as the spirit of the civil rights movement. At 44 years old, Fannie Lou met volunteers from the SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) - she did not know that she had the constitutional right to vote. She herself volunteered to go to the Montgomery County courthouse to register to vote. Later she said,
"The only thing they could do to me was to kill me, and it seemed like they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time ever since I could remember. "
When I was 14 years old, Ms. Hamer spoke before the Credentials Committee of the Democratic National Convention, it was on television. She told of the ways in which African Americans were prevented from voting. She was an inspiration. She did shine a light where there had been darkness. She talked of being sick and tired of being sick and tired--and she found her way, and our country is better for it, and we still have a long ways to go. Happy Birthday Fannie Lou.
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