Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement – Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Based on the critically acclaimed 2016 Caldecott and Sibert Honor Book, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength.

n 1970, Ruleville Central High School held a “Fannie Lou Hamer Day”. Six years later, the City of Ruleville itself celebrated a “Fannie Lou Hamer Day”. In 1977, Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson wrote “95 South (All of the Places We’ve Been)”, in Hamer’s honor. Ta-Nehisi Coates described a 1994 live solo version of the song as “a haunting and somber ode”.

In 1994, the Ruleville post office was named the Fannie Lou Hamer Post Office by an act of Congress. Additionally, The Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy was founded in 1997 as a summer seminar and K–12 workshop program. In 2014 it was merged with the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) Civil Rights Education Complex on the campus of Jackson State University, Jackson, to create the Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO: A Human and Civil Rights Interdisciplinary Education Center. The Hamer Institute @ COFO provides a research library and outreach programs. There is also a Fannie Lou Hamer Public Library in Jackson

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Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

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