Eight of us met on Saturday October 14 th to discuss Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America by Dr. Keisha N. Blain. The one thing we all agreed on about this book is that it was short on biographical information about Fannie Lou Hamer, and instead more focused on the events of the last few years. It seems that the author’s p oint was to relate Fannie Lou Hamer’s work and legacy to modern activists and point out her influences on today’s justice seekers. Fannie Lou Hamer entered the Voting Rights arena after attending a SNC C meeting. SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinati ng Committee) was established under the mentorship of Ella Baker. The group resisted the top-down leadership model and focused on every person in the group. Fannie Lou Hamer attended her first SNCC meeting when she was 44 years old. She didn’t even know she had a right to vote , before attending this meeting. Robin started us out, saying, “the group Sweet Honey in the Rock
The Urban Life Experience Book Discussion Series meets approximately once every six weeks at the Courtland S. Wilson Branch of the New Haven Free Public Library in New Haven, CT.