Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America

Keisha N. Blain

Paperback

IN STOCK$16.95

Explores the Black activist’s ideas and political strategies, highlighting their relevance for tackling modern social issues including voter suppression, police violence, and economic inequality.

A blend of social commentary, biography, and intellectual history, Until I Am Free is a manifesto for anyone committed to social justice. The book challenges us to listen to a working-poor and disabled Black woman activist and intellectual from the past as we grapple with contemporary concerns around race, inequality, and social justice. Hamer’s ideas and fearless activism reveal how we all, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ability, economic status, or educational background, have the power to transform society.

Born in Webster County, Mississippi, Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977), the youngest of 20 children, was the granddaughter of enslaved people and worked as a sharecropper before dedicating herself to activism.

Hamer’s 1964 televised speech before the DNC’s credentials committee was delivered before millions, and addressed two central issues that remain relevant today: voter suppression and state-sanctioned violence. Hamer described the scare tactics and violence she and other African Americans experienced and their lack of access to the vote. Throughout her life, Hamer fought for Black voting rights, social justice, women’s empowerment, human rights and economic rights.

ISBN 9780807007259
List price $16.95
Publisher Beacon Press
Year of publication 2022
Other editions:
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