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.

Why Fannie Lou Hamer's Message and Fight Endure Today The difficulties of Hamer’s childhood extended well into adulthood when she struggled to make ends meet. Despite her limited material ...

The documentary examines the life of civil rights legend Fannie Lou Hamer, offering first-hand accounts by those who knew her and worked side by side with her in the struggle for voting rights.