“Nobody’s free until everybody is free.”
Fannie Lou Hamer
Fannie Lou Hamer was born in 1917, the youngest of 20 children. After reaching the 6th grade at the age of 12, she left school to work on the cotton plantations of the Mississippi Delta. In the summer of 1962 she attended her first local meeting held by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). At 45 years-young, she began her life in activism, joining SNCC as an organizer, becoming a champion for both civil and voting rights.
During the nationally televised 1964 Democratic National Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer gave bold testimony about the violence she had faced at the hands of Mississippi State Patrol for registering voters. Although news networks started a live broadcast of her testimony, President Lyndon B. Johnson intentionally scheduled a meaningless live address at the same time, forcing networks to break away from her speech. The entire speech later aired on the evening news. MrHamer would go on to become a civil and human rights icon.
Fannie Lou Hamer remains a guiding light for Sankofa Impact both for her commitment to collective liberation and because she exemplifies what it means to be an everyday activist.
In every one of our programs, Sankofa Impact lifts up our HAMER values:
Honor
Authenticity
Meaningful listening
Eustress
Resilience
