It was very heartening for me to learn of the creation of the SNCC Digital Gateway (snccdigital.org), a multimedia website and repository created jointly by the SNCC Legacy Project, Duke University’s Center for Documentary Studies, and the Duke University Libraries. The site shares the stories of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a student-led, southern-based, civil rights group founded in 1960 at Shaw University. They provided strategic leadership on the ground mobilizing people of all ages and races in the face of violence and threat of death. One of the SNCC staff members profiled is Fannie Lou Hamer. Please do read her full profile (link below) but I will share this excerpt which moved me deeply.
“Whether calming people with her singing or speaking truth to power, Mrs. Hamer’s voice could not be ignored. … Mrs. Hamer did not shy away from the dangers of challenging segregation and the denial of voting rights in Mississippi. “I’m gonna be standing up, I’m gonna be moving forward, and if they shoot me, I’m not going to fall back, I’m going to fall 5 feet 4 inches forward.”
Fannie Lou Hamer 1917-1977
P.S. If you’re looking for further inspiration about the power of resistance in the face of tyranny, please revisit the excellent documentary, Freedom Riders, which aired on PBS in 2011.
Source
http://dukemagazine.duke.edu/article/a-gateway-to-the-wisdom-of-civil-rights-activists
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