A LETTER FROM DUCHESS DUCHESS HAUS In 1964 African American civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention She described the discrimination and violence she and other Black people faced She was forced to take a difficult literacy test when she tried to register to vote in 1962 These tests were designed to keep Black people from voting In her speech Hamer also described being unjustly arrested and beaten in jail Her experiences were common among Black people in the South at the time Hamer wanted to make the public more aware of these injustices Hamer’s 1964 speech was broadcast on major news networks throughout the country Her words influenced others to take action In 1965 President Lyndon B Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act This act banned obstacles that kept Black people from voting This book explores Hamer’s life and legacy Join me in learning about this influential civil rights leader Follow me on a journey that tells the story of the promise of freedom
Fannie Lou Hamer gave many speeches in support of African Americans civil rights
CHAPTER ONE
THE RIGHT TO VOTE On August 31 1962 Fannie a courthouse in Indianola Lou Hamer waited outside Mississippi Hamer was a 45-year-old black farmworker She stood with 17 of her neighbors and coworkers They were all African Americans They had traveled to the courthouse by bus that morning They were there to register to vote The white clerk only let two people into the courthouse One of them was Hamer The clerk told Hamer that she would have to pass a literacy test If she did not pass the test she would not be allowed to register to vote In the mid-1900s many African Americans were eager to register to vote and have their voices heard
