Fannie Lou Hamer Events & Happenings
‘What’s News?’
Fannie Lou Hamer Day.
Thanks to Land Literacy Legacy, Bridging Winona, June 9 is now Fannie Lou Hamer Day in Winona, MS. This declaration became official in 2022 prior to the unveiling of a historical marker at the jail site where Fannie Lou Hamer and several other activists were jailed and beaten at the hands of local law enforcement agents in June 1963.
Organizers at Bridging Winona said: “It is important to tell Mrs. Hamer’s story before and after the 1963 tragic occurrence.”
Last year’s event featured several guest speakers including Euvester Simpson, who shared a jail cell with Hamer, and Hamer’s daughter, Jacqueline Hamer Flakes. Flakes and Simpson unveiled the marker. Flakes died on March 27, 2023.
In June, the group will honor the 60th anniversary of the historic event with a three-day celebration of Hamer’s life. More details are forthcoming.
City officials in Ruleville, MS, Hamer’s hometown, also recognized her contributions by declaring October 31 as Fannie Lou Hamer Day in 1976.
“Fannie” is showing at select theaters. For more information contact: stephanie@fannieshortfilm.com
Short Film.
Oscar-nominated actress Aunjanue Ellis brings to life civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer in a riveting live-action short, FANNIE. Directed by award-winning filmmaker Christine Swanson, the film examines the acclaimed freedom fighter's gripping account of the brutality Black Americans faced along the journey to full equality and voting rights.
Ellis, nominated last year for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in “King Richard,” is the sole performer in this unflinching cinematic dramatization of one of the most important figures of the civil rights movement.
FANNIE, a nine-minute short, is produced by Christine Swanson and Aunjanue Ellis. The film is executive produced by Angela Harmon, Abeni Bloodworth, Emil Pinnock, and Stephanie Frederic.
Eliis channels Fannie Lou Hamer in her potrayal of Hamer delivering her emotional testimony before the Credentials Committee in 1964.
Ellis, who portrays Hamer, was behind a mural, Daybreak, painted in her native Magnolia, MS dedicated to Hamer. She also participated in a panel discussion about Hamer prior to the release of the film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America.
Traveling Exhibit.
With special funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “More Perfect Union” initiative, the Mississippi Humanities Council launched “Mississippi Founders,” a multimedia project highlighting twelve Mississippians who fought to make their home state live up to the ideals of America’s founding. One such individual is Fannie Lou Hamer.
Since Mississippi was not part of the U.S. until 1795 or a state until 1817, our state’s narrative has not been directly connected to the story of 1776 and the country’s founding. And yet, if one conceives of the founding as an active, ongoing process in which America struggled to fulfill the ideals of the Declaration and Constitution, Mississippi is at the heart of the story.
These twelve Mississippians, who represent many more, were essentially founders of Mississippi’s democracy. While at the time they were often accused of being anti-American, these founders were intensely patriotic and helped create an America that was far closer to the principles of our country than the world of segregation and white supremacy in which they lived.
The Mississippi Founders project highlights these men and women through short interstitial segments produced by Mississippi Public Broadcasting and the Mississippi Humanities Council. Also, with this traveling exhibit designed for public libraries and schools in rural areas. You can find see the interstitials that connect with the exhibit on the MPB and MHC YouTube pages.
These twelve Mississippians, who represent many more, were essentially founders of Mississippi’s democracy. While at the time they were often accused of being anti-American, these founders were intensely patriotic and helped create an America that was far closer to the principles of our country than the world of segregation and white supremacy in which they lived.
The Mississippi Founders project highlights these men and women through short interstitial segments produced by Mississippi Public Broadcasting and the Mississippi Humanities Council. Also, with this traveling exhibit designed for public libraries and schools in rural areas. You can find see the interstitials that connect with the exhibit on the MPB and MHC YouTube pages.
These twelve individuals are: Hamer, Amzie Moore, Annie Devine, Medgar Evers, Lawrence Guyot, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Clarie Collins Harvey, Aaron Henry, John R. Lynch, Thomas W. Stringer, Unita Blackwell, and Vernon Dahmer. The effort and sacrifices made by these patriots not only helped ensure democracy for all Mississippians but all Americans as well. These individuals challenged the status-quo, urging that the phrase “We the People” should include all people.
Advising the project is a scholars committee comprised of five historians of the Mississippi Civil Rights movement, including Dr. Daphne Chamberlain (Tougaloo College); Dr. Robert Luckett (Jackson State University); Dr. Tiyi Morris (Ohio State University); Dr. Rebecca Tuuri (University of Southern Mississippi); and Dr. Anthony Neal (Mississippi State University).
For more information or to host the traveling exhibit please contact John Spann, MHC Program and Outreach Officer, at jspann@mhc.state.ms.us.
