No. What would I look like fighting for equality with the white man? I don't want to go down that low. I want the true democracy that'll raise me and that white man up raise America up. Fannie Lou Hamer More Quotes by Fannie Lou Hamer More Quotes From Fannie Lou Hamer We are here to work side-by-side with this "black" man in trying to bring liberation to all our people! Fannie Lou Hamer black men people Our foreparents were mostly brought from West Africa. We were brought to America and our foreparents were sold; white people bo ught them; white people changed their names my maiden name is supposed to be Townsend, but really, what is my maiden name? What is my name? Fannie Lou Hamer names white america You know I'm not hung up on this liberating myself from the "black" man - I'm not going to try that thing. Fannie Lou Hamer black trying men We serve God by serving our fellow man; kids are suffering from malnutrition. People are going to the fields hungry. If you are a Christian, we are tired of being mistreated. Fannie Lou Hamer tired christian kids I see so many ways America uses to rob Negroes and it is sinful and America can't keep holding on, and doing these things. Fannie Lou Hamer use america way A white man killed the mules and our cows that knocked us right back down. And things got so tough then I began to wish I was white. Fannie Lou Hamer white wish men I met one child there eleven years old, speaking three languages [in Guinea]. He could speak English, French and Malinke. Speaking my language actually better than I could. And this hypocrisy - they tell us here in America [ that black people can't be intelligent]. Fannie Lou Hamer intelligent children years This problem is not only in Mississippi. During the time I was in the Convention in Atlantic City, I didn't get any threats from Mississippi. The threatening letters were from Philadelphia, Chicago and other big cities. Fannie Lou Hamer philadelphia cities letters In coming to Atlantic City, we believed strongly that we were right. In fact, it was just right for us to come to challenge the seating of the regular Democratic Party from Mississippi. But we didn't think when we got there that we would meet people, that actually the other leaders of the Movement would differ with what we felt was right. Fannie Lou Hamer party cities thinking I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered and nothing, I mean nothing has been done about that. Fannie Lou Hamer jail done mean Not only have we paid the price with our names in ink, but we have also paid in blood. And they can't say that black people can't be intelligent, because going back to Africa, in Guinea, there are almost 4 million people there and what he, President [Sekou] Toure, is doing to educate the people: as long as the French people had it they weren't doing a thing that is being done now. Fannie Lou Hamer intelligent names blood I would like to talk about some of the things that happened that made me know that there was something wrong in the south from a child. Fannie Lou Hamer made knows children The people at home will work hard and actually all of them think it was important that we hade the decision that we did make not to compromise; because we didn't have anything to compromise for. Fannie Lou Hamer hard-work home thinking That's why I believe in Christianity because the Scriptures said: "The things that have been done in the dark will be known on the house tops." Fannie Lou Hamer dark house believe ... some of my people could have been left [in Africa] and are living there. And I can't understand them and they don't know me and I don't know them because all we had was taken away from us. And I became kind of angry; I felt the anger of why this had to happen to us. We were so stripped and robbed of our background, we wind up with nothing. Fannie Lou Hamer taken wind people I believe in Christianity because the Scriptures said: "The things that have been done in the dark will be known on the house tops." Fannie Lou Hamer dark house believe What I really feel is necessary is that the black people in this country wil have to upset this apple cart. We can no longer ignore the fact that America is not the... land of the free and the home of the brave. Fannie Lou Hamer black brave home people Every red stripe in that flag represents the black man's blood that has been shed. Fannie Lou Hamer flag man red black I had to leave, and my husband was forced to stay on this plantation until after the harvest season was over. And then the man that we had worked for, he'd taken the car, and the most of the few things we had had been stolen. Fannie Lou Hamer stay man car husband It was the 31st of August in 1962 that eighteen of us traveled twenty-six miles to the county courthouse in Indianola to try to register to become first-class citizens. We was met in Indianola by policemen, Highway Patrolmen, and they only allowed two of us in to take the literacy test at the time. Fannie Lou Hamer test us try time
