Activist Fannie Lou Hamer singing to a group of people during the "March Against Fear" (1966). Photos by Jim Peppler
Symbols of an emerging South Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker are photographed attending the Freedom Democratic Party (1964)
milkandheavysugar reblogged
On June 9, 1963 Fannie Lou Hamer and several other activists stopped in Winona, MS on their way back from a voter registration workshop.
They were arrested for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter and sent to jail where they were beaten. The damage done to Hamer’s eyes, legs, and kidneys would affect her for the rest of her life.
Fannie Lou Hamer spoke of this incident, and others, in her testimony before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Read more.
Learn more when Freedom Summer premieres on americanexperiencepbs June 24th.