A review by siria
Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer's Enduring Message to America by Keisha N. Blain

4.0

Fannie Lou Hamer rose to national prominence in the United States thanks to her address at the Democratic National Convention in 1964, but both before and after that point Hamer was a tireless worker for civil rights and Black liberation at a grassroots, state, and national level. Keisha Blain here presents Hamer as woman of incredible drive and courage, who pursued her calling despite poverty, a lack of any formal qualifications (she had less than six years of schooling to her name), and the staunch entrenchment of vicious racism at every level of state and society (Hamer was severely beaten by police at a protest, leaving her with lifelong disabilities; she was sterilised by a white doctor without her knowledge or consent). In each chapter, Blain further connects individual aspect of Hamer’s activism to the work and concerns of contemporary activists. This is a fascinating introduction to the life of an iconoclastic and brave woman, and a helpful contextualisation of her work within the broader history of the struggle for justice and equality.