Fannie Lou Hamer’s America is a skillfully crafted 1-hour documentary chronicling the life and important work of civil rights/human rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, a powerful and inspirational figure in the history of the movement. However, Hamer is not, as would be expected, a household name, at least not across all households in the U.S. as would be deserving of her life’s work and her significance to the communities in Mississippi (and beyond) that she championed tirelessly.
Hamer died in 1977, but this 2020 film is narrated by Hamer with all of the music included also being drawn from Hamer’s musical performances. The craft of the filmmaker in tailoring the film’s arc and telling the story of Hamer’s life through archival film and audio clips of her speeches and interviews draws the viewer in and contributes to the intimacy and power of the film.
Hamer was one of 20 children, the daughter of sharecroppers in Mississippi. She first started picking cotton when she was only 6 years old and continued to do so until age 17, at which point she was picking 300 pounds of cotton per day. In the documentary, Hamer recounts a significant conversation with her mother in which Hamer asks, “How come we weren’t white?” already noticing at a very young age the significant disparities between whites and Blacks in her community.
Her mom’s responses centered on the self-respect she expected from her daughter. “Don’t be ashamed of being Black,” her mother tells her, emphasizing the importance of taking pride in being a Black woman and, shortly after, buying Hamer a Black doll to play with. This conversation stayed with Hamer and is one that came to mean more and more to her as she grew up. At age 13, she committed herself to making things better for the poor of Mississippi and she followed through on that commitment for the rest of her life.
Hamer attended meetings organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and became heavily involved with the voter registration initiatives that took hold in the 1960s as a central aspect of the Civil Rights Movement, which also meant Hamer lived with terror and threats on a daily basis in addition to enduring a brutal beating while in jail that left her with sustained physical damage. The recounting of this experience, at the midpoint of the film, by Hamer, is juxtaposed with images of a statue honoring Hamer, filmed at night, as well as different locations in Mississippi. While her testimony may be difficult for some students to listen to, it is important for understanding the realities she faced as she fought for equality and freedom.
Through the documentary, we learn of Hamer’s work organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, her connections with other important activists, such as Ella Baker and John Lewis, and her ability as an orator to share compelling testimony, even when only allowed a few words, as with her stunning, but short, speech at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, a highlight of the film.
Many may see Hamer’s story, and the film itself, as a documentary that highlights the history of Black America and certainly it does tell one story of Black America that will resonate with many African-Americans. Yet, it is also important to position this film as a film that tells the history of America, full stop, of the United States, reflecting the inequities and injustices that come with the legacy of enslavement and white supremacy as a de facto founding tenet. Many educators, students, and audience members will see immediate connections to civil rights struggles today and will place Hamer's legacy as one that opened the door for other Black women involved in important civic leadership, such as Stacey Abrams.
The film, and Hamer’s lifelong work, offer a message that resonates deeply in the context of current struggles for equity. Through Fannie Lou Hamer's America, we see progress (because of Hamer’s work and that of her peers), and a potential continuum of the work, underscored by the powerful Hamer quote from her speech at the National Democratic Convention in 1964, which opens and closes the film: “Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave?”
Fannie Lou Hammer's America would be a great addition to Black History and/or Women's History Film Series and is a valuable tool for Middle School and/or High School classrooms, particularly around lessons regarding U.S. History, Civil Rights, Black History, and Civics.
PBS created a teaching guide for the film, and the film's website features 18 curricular units, for all ages (PreK-High School). These units are stand alone units that can be utilized with or without the film (as the film is not appropriate for younger students). They focus on carrying Hamer's spirit forward as they encourage students to reflect on injustices around them and take action through speeches, film sketches, debates, editorials, poetry writing, and more.