Fannie Lou Hamer was born in 1917, the 20th child of Lou Ella and James Lee Townsend, sharecroppers east of the Mississippi Delta. She first joined her family in the cotton fields at the age of six.

Whenever Fannie Lou Hamer spoke, she also sang ... the longstanding classical arts tradition of incorporating folk art forms. This is the same music that infused Hamer’s activism.

As strong-willed civil rights and voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, Butler knows she has audiences in the palm of her hand. And rightfully so! Butler easily glides between impassioned ...

The story of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer is being told in the opera, “Is This America?” by composer Mary D. Watkins. Performances will take place Sept. 20, 21 & 22 at the Strand ...