Fannie Lou Hamer in Civil Rights Movement: "Black Power" Era
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917–1977) was a sharecropper who, in 1964, became the key delegate for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
In early August 1964, the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party held its state convention and selected Hamer as one of five delegates who would travel to Atlantic City to unseat the Dixiecrats at the Democratic National Convention.
She testified before the Democratic Party's Credentials Committee, proclaiming, "If the Freedom Democratic Party is not seated now, I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave...?" (Source)