On this edition of In Black America, producer/host John L. Hanson Jr. speaks with Kate Clifford Larson, award-winning historian and consultant and author of Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer.
Few historical figures embody the courage, sacrifice and inspired heroism of Fannie Lou Hamer. The 20th child of poor Mississippi Delta sharecroppers struggling to raise their children in a place governed by racism and violence, Hamer survived because of her mother’s determination and a commitment to inspire pride and confidence in her daughter.
Larson talks about Hamer toiling with her husband on the same lands her ancestors ploughed, planted and harvested; Hamer’s life and impact on the civil rights movement; Hamer’s fight for the right to vote; and how she stood up to influential civil rights leaders who tried to dismiss her because she was female, poor and uneducated.
