A bronze statue of Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the civil rights movement leaders, a suffrage and women’s rights activist, and a community organizer is standing tall on a pedestal in the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Garden in Ruleville, Mississippi. The statue, created by the Sculptor Brian Hanlon, depicts Hamer holding a microphone of a megaphone in her hand; her mouth is open as if she is speaking. On the pedestal, a line from the anthem of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s reads- “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” The statue was dedicated on October 5th, 2012, in a large ceremony, one day before her birthday.
Fannie Lou Hamer was born and raised in Mississippi. Since she was six years old, she worked in the cotton field to support her family, who lived in a plantation. She got married in her late twenties and became Fannie Lou Hamer. The couple adopted two girls later on since Hammer received a hysterectomy without her consent. During the 1950s, she started to develop her interest in the civil rights movement. In 1962 she decided to go and register to vote. It was a turning point in her life. She got fired and kicked out of the plantation, and her life was at risk. She was sent to jail and got beaten so hard that her health never fully recovered. Hamer did not withdraw her voter registration and continued to organize voter registration drives and became more involved in the civil rights movement.
In 1964 she co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and delivered one of her most famous speeches at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Over the years, Hamer was a member of the Democratic National Committee for Mississippi (1968–1971) and the National Women’s Political Policy Council.
Although she was suffering from poor health, Hamer continued working tirelessly for equality, until her death in 1977.
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