September 1, 2021
Blain (history, Univ. of Pittsburgh; Set the World on Fire; Four Hundred Souls) blends biography with intellectual history to discuss Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-77), her instrumental civil rights activism, and her influence which resounds in the 21st century. Hamer was a grassroots organizer who came from a sharecropping background in Mississippi. Her main civil rights concerns were voter suppression and police brutality--the same battles being fought by contemporary Black Lives Matter activists. Blain uses extensive primary sources (including excerpts from Hamer's speeches, and accounts of her experiences of sexual assault and medical trauma) to illustrate how Hamer "turned her pain into political action." Blain effectively conveys the racism and sexism Hamer faced in her fight for equality and liberation and shows how it impacted her relationships to both the civil rights movement and the women's liberation movement; she also establishes the modernity and contemporary relevance of Hamer's proto-intersectional politics (Kimberl� Crenshaw would coin "intersectionality" in 1989). VERDICT This excellent introduction to Hamer and her life is well-contextualized; recommended for all readers.--Maria Bagshaw, Elgin Community Coll. Lib., IL
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Starred review from September 1, 2021
A celebration of the life of Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977), a disabled, working-class, Black civil rights activist whose legacy continues to influence the world's most groundbreaking movements for human rights. Hamer officially joined the civil rights movement in 1962, when, at the age of 44, she attended a rally organized by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Ruleville, Mississippi. There, she learned that she had the right to vote, a revelation that inspired her to spend her life organizing for Black voting rights. Her work led not only to her imprisonment, but also verbal and physical abuse. Although she is best known for her electoral work, Hamer's vision for her people extended far beyond the ballot box. Toward the end of her life, Hamer founded Freedom Farm, a collective designed to alleviate food and housing insecurity among poor Black farmers in Mississippi. A prolific lecturer and vocal advocate for concrete action, Hamer based her theories and practices on her past experiences as a sharecropper. Having survived polio, poverty, and an unwanted hysterectomy, Hamer was supremely articulate about the ways in which racism, classism, and sexism have always devastatingly intersected in Black women's lives. Today, her legacy lives on through individuals ranging from Black Lives Matter co-founder Opal Tometi to Vice President Kamala Harris. Blain backs up her trenchant analysis with extensive research and relevant quotes from her subject. The scholarly text brims with heart, and the author's affection for Hamer infuses every line. Readers will walk away both informed and inspired. Then they should go seek out Kate Clifford Larson's Walk With Me (2021), a good companion read. A highly readable, poignant study of the life and influence of a civil rights legend.
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Starred review from September 15, 2021
Born into a sharecropping family in Mississippi in 1917, Fannie Lou Hamer became a civil rights activist after learning she possessed the legal right to vote. Over the course of her life, she was a tireless advocate for the rights of poor and working class Black southerners, famously saying, "Nobody's free until everybody's free." History professor Blain (Set the World on Fire, 2018) explores Hamer's early life, burgeoning political activism, and impact on the civil rights movement in this vivid, passionate biography. Driven by her strong Christian faith and deep sense of justice, Hamer demanded that her fellow Black activists, the Democratic Party, and the U.S. as a whole make space for the voices of people like her. Over the course of her career, she traveled to Africa, ran for Senate against the infamously racist James Eastland of Mississippi, and founded a farming cooperative and "pig bank" to boost the economic power of poor Black Mississippians. Although Blain occasionally neglects to situate Hamer's ideas in the broader context of her time, the author's rightful and infectious admiration of Hamer shines through on every page. Until I Am Free is a must-have for readers interested in American history and civil rights activism.
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