Fannie Lou Hamer

6-30-99

Kendra Katrell Daugherty

Fannie Lou Hamer was born October 6th, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. Her parents were share croppers of Ruleville, Mississippi. She was the youngest of 20 kids. She grew up in Ruleville with her parents and her siblings.

At the age of 12 years old she was forced to drop out of school so she could chop cotton and work in the fields to help support her family.

Fannie Lou Hamer went to jail for being a part of the MFDP (Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party). While in jail, she was beaten by two Negro prisoners who were forced to by two white policemen. The first one beat her until he was tired, then he gave the blackjack to the other prisoner and he began to beat her harder. They beat her until her body was hard and still. Because of the beating she had an injured kidney and poor eyesight. Because she had polio, that left her with a limp.

She became involved with the MFDP because she wanted to have equal rights; she also wanted everyone else to have equal rights. She wanted to have the right to vote and do other things. She believed that everyone was created equally, and she believed that everyone should be treated equally.

She was a delegate for the MFDP. She was asked to speak at the Democratic National Convention in 1964. She talked about how white people go around saying the reason that blacks don't vote is because they don't want to. The real reason why blacks don't vote is because the white people don't let them, she said. They do mean things to try to stop them, such as beat them and try to hurt them. Another reason blacks really don't want to vote is because they are afraid of what whites might do to them. Why should they say most of Mississippi is white, Hamer asked, when half of the population is black? If blacks started to vote, then there would be blacks elected, but when blacks don't vote, whites will always be elected.

Her most famous quote was "Iím sick and tired of being sick and tired."

I learned a lot from Fannie Lou Hamer. I learned that she was a hard worker, and she fought for equal rights. She didn't let anything hold her back. She didn't stop until she accomplished what she had worked for. She is now deceased and is buried in Ruleville, Mississippi with great honor. Her grave and her husband's grave are side by side.