TTNC Educational Podcast Series

The Life and Times of Fannie Lou Hamer

“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” These famous words uttered by Mississippi sharecropper Fannie Lou Hamer, explains her persistence in her efforts to become what she called, “a first-class citizen”. Thus, when the Freedom Riders came to Sunflower County, Mississippi Fannie Lou Hamer was among the first black persons to attempt to register to vote.  She was one of two allowed to take the literary test which she failed. Upon her return home, she was fired from her job on the plantation.  Shots fired into the house where she was thought to be staying. Things grew more difficult as local sheriffs and their deputies beat her and threatened to kill her. But she was steadfast in her determination. “Killing or no killing, I am staying with civil rights”. Today she is recognized as one of the most important leaders in the civil rights movement. The Life and Times of Fannie Lou Hamer is her story.