Fannie Lou Hamer is an icon in civil rights history, known to be a powerful speaker and change maker. Hamer helped organize Freedom Summer, an effort to get African Americans registered to vote. And in 1964, she announced her candidacy for the Mississippi House of Representatives, but was barred from the ballot.
In the words of her grandniece, Monica Land, so many people know her and then nobody knows her. Land is the co-producer for a new documentary film “Fannie Lou Hamer's America,” a special from WORLD Channel's "America ReFramed," which takes a look at the activist story and her own voice.
Land joined hosts Paris Alston and Jeremy Siegel on Morning Edition today to discuss the film and Hamer’s legacy. Land said that Hamer’s message is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s.
“The exact same things that she was fighting for in 1962 are still happening today. This time mirrors her time. And so it's still very relevant,” Land said.
“So many people, especially young people, are taking her words to heart. And we see that because whenever there seems to be some kind of Black Lives Matter movement or protest, someone has a sign or a shirt that has a quote from Fannie Lou,” Land continued. “They may not know that she said it, but it's her words. ‘I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired.’ ‘Nobody's free until everybody's free.' And so her message resonates with people because it's the same social situation.”
Listen to the full interview above. "Fannie Lou Hamer's America: An America Reframed Special" airs on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 9:00 p.m. on GBH 2 and Thursday, Feb. 24 at 8:00 p.m. on WORLD Channel.
