For Freedom's Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Women in American History) [Paperback]

Chana Kai Lee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0252069366 | ISBN-13: 978-0252069369

The youngest of twenty children of sharecroppers in rural Mississippi, Fannie Lou Hamer witnessed throughout her childhood the white cruelty, political exclusion, and relentless economic exploitation that defined black existence in the Delta. In this intimate biography, Chana Kai Lee documents Hamer's lifelong crusade to empower the poor through collective action, her rise to national prominence as a civil rights activist, and the personal costs of her ongoing struggle to win a political voice and economic self-sufficiency for blacks in the segregated South. Lee traces Hamer's early work as a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in rural Mississippi, documenting the partial blindness she suffered after being arrested and beaten by local officials for leading a group of blacks to register for the vote. Hamer's dramatic appearance at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, where she led a group from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in a bid to unseat the all-white Mississippi delegation, brought both Hamer and the virtual powerlessness of black Mississippians to the nation's attention; but the convention also marked her first debilitating encounter with the middle class of the national civil rights movement. Despite her national visibility, Hamer remained a militant grassroots leader who never stopped working for the betterment of her own community in Sunflower County, Mississippi. Among many local initiatives, she established the Freedom Farm Corporation, a revolutionary cooperative venture aimed at facilitating economic self- sufficiency for the rural poor. Lee renders Hamer's acute political instincts, her rhetorical prowess, and her skill in retooling her past to serve strategic political purposes, as well as her deep frustration with a society that was willing to hold her up as an example of individual heroism but resisted her efforts at collective transformation. Offering a complex understanding of how racism, sexism, violence, and economic injustice intersected to spur the civil rights movement and to shape, and sometimes restrict, the role of women and poor people within it, Lee illuminates the abiding links between political activism and economic transformation. The definitive biography of one of the most important civil rights activists of the twentieth century, "For Freedom's Sake" documents Fannie Lou Hamer's lifelong crusade to empower the poor through collective action, her rise to national prominence as a civil rights activist, and the personal costs of her ongoing struggle to win a political voice and economic self-sufficiency for blacks in the segregated South.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer garnered the national spotlight when she and other members of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party attempted to unseat the entirely white official Mississippi delegation. Though the coup failed, and Hamer herself earned the wrath of Lyndon Johnson, she helped draw attention to the ways in which black Southerners were denied political power. At the time, Hamer had only been involved in the civil rights movement for two years; at the age of 47 she reemerged as a natural and vibrant leader who would go on to run (unsuccessfully) for the Mississippi State Senate. Lee's biography is less committed to exploring Hamer's personal life than to charting her growth as an activist and examining the profound impact of gender, sexuality, violence and poverty on the early civil rights movement. By focusing on these issues in Hamer's own life--the repeated rapes her grandmother endured, resulting in 20 illegitimate children, Hamer's own involuntary sterilization and the sexual abuse she suffered at the hands of the police--the book highlights the vantage point of African-American women in the fight for basic human rights in the South. Lee handles this difficult material sensitively, placing it in context of the economic and social complexities of Southern life. Never sentimentalizing her subject, Lee honestly discusses the movement's bitter internal struggles, Hamer's severe bouts with depression and her strong disagreements with white feminists. This biography vividly brings to light a crucial aspect of the civil rights movement that until now has not been given its due. (Sept.)

Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Lee's biography is less committed to exploring Hamer's personal life than to charting her growth as an activist and examining the profound impact of gender, sexuality, violence and poverty on the early civil rights movement... Vividly brings to light a crucial aspect of the civil rights movement that until now has not been given its due." - Publishers Weekly "To relate the life of Fannie Lou Hamer accurately demands a fundamental understanding of the politics of class and gender, as well as race... Lee successfully negotiates the difficult terrain of this amazing woman's life with remarkable skill. Lee offers far more than a chronology of events, and thereby presents a rich picture of an extraordinary and complex figure." - Choice "Far more prominent in the historical record than in the history books, black women in the post-World War II freedom movements are the subject of exciting recent scholarship. Lee's portrait of Fanny Lou Hamer stands among the best of those works... This is the best book on a crucially important subject." -- Timothy B. Tyson, Journal of American History "Excellent biography ... [Lee's] most important contribution is her portrait of Hamer as a sensitive and sometimes troubled person, not just a symbol... A biography worthy of its subject." -- Paul T. Murray, Multicultural Review "Emerging frmo the lowliest rungs of Mississippi's segregated world, Fannie Lou Hamer became an icon of black protest during the 1960s... Lee's biography polishes the icon but also probes it to discover a flesh-and-blood woman whose frailties make her achievements -- and her tenacity -- all the more notable... This book will win recognition for ably showing Hamer as a warrior at once valiant and vulnerable." -- Robert Weisbrot, American Historical Review "Comprehensive research, lyrical yet accessible writing, and brilliant analysis come together in what constitutes the most definitive critical biography to date of famed civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer... A biography that deserves to be emulated." -- Priscilla A. Dowden, The North Carolina Historical Review "This biography [of Hamer] is one of the best ways to experience this charismatic personality." - The Socialist "Lee's incisive biography breaks new ground on Hamer scholarship... A balanced account that advances Hamer scholarship... The result is more defining and dimensional, of a very human, but flawed figure, fiercely individualistic, yet a symbol for emerging social change in a critical, turbulent time in the South's history." - Dan Ruff, Southern Historian "Hamer emerges from the pages as a complex, sophisticated and truly revolutionary individual. This book will, no doubt, be a major contribution to the ongoing commentary on race, gender, and class relations in southern life." - The Gaitherreporter "An excellent analysis of Hamer's life and work. Lee's extensive research allows her to turn Hamer from a mythic icon of the civil rights movement into something more powerful: an ordinary woman who withstood obscene violence and resistance to fight for her rights." - Selika Ducksworth Lawton, Michigan Historical Review "A vivid and complex portrait of Hamer and her lifelong pursuit of political and economic freedom effectively situated in the major events and themes of her time." -- Emily J. Crosby, The Southern Quarterly ADVANCE PRAISE "Chana Kai Lee's accessible, elegant, and comprehensively researched biography of Fannie Lou Hamer reminds us that even cataclysmic changes in social relations start with the experiences, aspirations, and imagination of ordinary people. An unknown plantation field hand and timekeeper until her forties, Mrs. Hamer emerged as the quintessential rank and file activist and grass roots leader of the Mississippi Freedom Movement. Lee shows how the civil rights movement was not just a battle to end segregation, but rather functioned as a broad based battle against poverty, illiteracy, economic exploitation, and all forms of dehumanization and oppression. More than any other individual, Fannie Lou Hamer embodied the extraordinary changes provoked in U.S. society by the civil rights movement of the 1960s. In Chana Kai Lee, she has found a biographer worthy of her story."-George Lipsitz, author of A Rainbow at Midnight: Labor and Culture in the 1940s "Chana Kai Lee has written a remarkable biography of a remarkable woman. Of all the local people who guided and sustained the civil rights movement in reshaping the South and America during the second half of the twentieth century, Fannie Lou Hamer stands at the top... Lee has given us a brilliantly textured portrait of the public and private life of a wife, mother, civil rights organizer, and mentor to young people struggling for freedom. For Freedom's Sake provides a truthful and sensitive portrait of a poor, southern black woman who transformed herself and countless others, while at the same time experiencing intense personal disappointment and pain. Not merely a story of one woman's triumph and tragedy, Lee's revealing book presents a moving and perceptive study of the human condition."-Steven F. Lawson, author of Running for Freedom: Civil Rights and Black Politics in America since 1941 "An extremely valuable addition to the historiography of the civil rights movement."-John Dittmer, author of Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi "Enlightening, moving, and inspirational."-Beverly Guy-Sheftall, author of Daughters of Sorrow: Attitudes toward Black Women, 1880-1920

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (May 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252069366
• ISBN-13: 978-0252069369
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #268,064 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Book, November 28, 1999

By 

Bruce Borland (Lake Forest, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: For Freedom's Sake: THE LIFE OF FANNIE LOU HAMER (Women in American History) (Hardcover)

I have read and heard so much about men in the Civil Rights Movement, and I have read so little about women. This book for me filled a gap.It told an exciting story with great eloquence. It portrayed the life of a heroine of the Civil Rights Movement, and described the times. And it was at the same time rich and intellectually sophisticated. I cannot recommend this book enough to all readers, and I hope these comments motivate others to get this wonderful book and read it.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stirring and important biography of an important American, October 6, 1999

By 

Timothy B. Tyson (Duke University) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: For Freedom's Sake: THE LIFE OF FANNIE LOU HAMER (Women in American History) (Hardcover)

Chana Kai Lee makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of the civil rights movement with this stirring and important biography of Fanny Lou Hamer. Mrs. Hamer, an icon in the movement and a force unto herself, was one of the strongest and most influential voices in the African American struggle for freedom. Thanks to Professor Lee, that voice echoes for the ages in the pages of For Freedom's Sake. This is a book that all Americans should read and that students and general readers alike will enjoy. Like its subject, this well-crafted book will be a beacon for freedom for many years to come.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational, January 11, 2007

By 

To Be Simple - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: For Freedom's Sake: The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer (Women in American History) (Paperback)

Fannie Lou Hamer was a remarkable person who may not have received the publicity and accolades of other Civil Rights personalities, but she certainly accomplished as much as anyone in the movement. Lee does a very solid job of taking the reader through Hamer's life. The only criticism I have is that Lee on occasion editorializes about contradictory things that Hamer said, as well as speculates as to what motivated Hamer in certain instances. It would have been more effective to simply let the reader think about such things and make up their own mind. This is a minor quibble, however, because Lee has contributed to the small body of work on Hamer in a substantive manner. I had a hard time putting this book down even though I already knew all the details of Hamer's life from reading other books. Lee synthesizes her information nicely which makes this book a coherent read. The reader gets a vivid picture of the ups and downs Mrs. Hamer encountered in her brilliant life. Fannie Lou Hamer's life was a testament to the human spirit and will to fight for justice. The Civil Rights Movement cannot be fully understood without knowing about the contributions of Hamer. You need to read this book.