MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 2nd Extraordinary Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Simmons, Jordan, Baria, Blount, Butler, Dearing, Harden, Hopson, Horhn, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Stone, Walls

Senate Concurrent Resolution 525

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE LEGACY OF MRS. FANNIE LOU HAMER OF RULEVILLE, MISSISSIPPI, AND DESIGNATING OCTOBER 6, 2010, AS "FANNIE LOU HAMER DAY IN MISSISSIPPI."

     WHEREAS, Fannie Lou Hamer was among the most significant participants in the Civil Rights Movement launched in the latter half of the Twentieth Century to achieve social justice for African-Americans.  Born October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi, she was the last of the 20 children of Lou Ella and James Townsend.  They were sharecroppers; and

     WHEREAS, at age six, Fannie Lou joined her parents in the cotton fields.  By the time she was 12, she was forced to drop out of school and work full time to help support her family.  At age 27, she married sharecropper Perry "Pap" Hamer; and

     WHEREAS, in August 1962, Mrs. Hamer attended a meeting of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in her hometown, Ruleville, Mississippi.  This is where she made the decision to attempt to register to vote.  For this decision, she was forced by her landlord to leave the plantation where she worked.  In June the following year, she and several SNCC colleagues were beaten in a Mississippi jail by law enforcement officers, which left her blind in her left eye and her kidneys permanently damaged; and

     WHEREAS, Mrs. Hamer's historic presence in Atlantic City at the 1964 National Convention of the Democratic Party brought national prominence with her electrifying testimony before the convention's credentials committee.  Here, as a representative of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) that was formed in April 1964, she sought to prevent the seating of the Mississippi delegation.  While this effort failed, the Democratic Party agreed that in the future no delegation would be seated from a state where anyone was illegally denied the vote.  Roughly a year later, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed; and

     WHEREAS, after her Atlantic City experience, Mrs. Hamer turned her attention increasingly to building strong institutions for addressing problems at the local level.  She took an active role in antipoverty programs, especially Head Start, and in 1969 founded the Freedom Farms Corporation, designed to help poor farming families, black and white, become economically self-sufficient.  In 1971, she sought to become a Mississippi State Senator as an Independent; and

     WHEREAS, the last six years of Mrs. Hamer's life were marked with severe health problems, however, it was a period during which she received numerous honors and awards.  On March 14, 1977, she passed away.  Her funeral in Ruleville drew a cross section of national dignitaries who came to sing her praises, pointing out that her legacy will, and should, endure forever, for it is one that serves as a beacon illuminating the pathway to eradicating poverty and suffering in our country and in the world:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize the legacy of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville, Mississippi, and in remembrance of her legacy designate October 6, 2010, as "Fannie Lou Hamer Day in Mississippi."

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be forwarded to the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Ruleville, Mississippi, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.