Women’s History Month: Fannie Lou Hamer And How The Civil Rights Icon Challenged The Status Quo

Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegate Fanny Hamer speaks out for the meeting of her delegates at a credential meeting before the formal meeting of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 1964, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. | Source: Bettmann / Getty

It wasn’t called voter suppression back then, but civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer knew exactly how white authorities in Mississippi felt about Black people voting in the 1960s.

At a rally with Malcolm X in Harlem, New York, on Dec.