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Remembering Fannie Lou Hamer: Monica Land pays tribute to her aunt

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Editor’s note: This article was written by Monica Land, niece of the famed civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer. It first published in The Enterprise-Tocsin newspaper on June 21, 2024, and is republished below with permission. Click here to read the story on The Enterpise-Tocsin’s website.


Everything I know about Fannie Lou Hamer, I learned from someone else. And that will forever haunt me as a tremendous loss of opportunity considering that she was my great-aunt.

Growing up, I often heard my family speak of her as an almost mythical figure. A woman, who not only prayed for change, but vowed herself to bring it. They’d laugh when they recalled the funny things she said or did. But their faces turned somber, cold and sad when they remembered the pain and sufferings she endured.

As a youngster from Chicago, I recall visiting my Uncle Pap and Aunt Fannie Lou during the summer. When we walked into their Ruleville home, I remember she was always lying down or sitting. As was customary, I spoke and gave her a hug, but then off I went to play with her two daughters, Cookie (Jacqueline) and Nook (Lenora).

It was the 1970s, and I deeply regret that I was too young to know that I should have stayed and talked to her, listened to her and asked her questions. As a teenager, I regret not asking my Uncle Pap or my maternal grandparents — who were very close to her — questions about her life and her childhood. And now those opportunities are gone.

As a writer and an aspiring filmmaker, I was determined to learn more about her life and to tell her story, and it took me more than 15 years to do it.

That film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, allows audiences to see and hear a side of Aunt Fannie Lou that many never have before. In fact, during the research phase of that project, I learned things myself that I had never known. Things that both surprised and horrified me.

Aunt Fannie Lou was an exceptional person. While many remember her as a fierce proponent of voting rights, who was “sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Aunt Fannie Lou did so much more, providing food, clothing, housing, educational opportunities and even jobs for the marginalized residents of the Mississippi Delta, while she herself had nothing.

My research into her life took me deep into the trenches where I met many of her fellow freedom fighters. Unfortunately, many are now only remembered for their work, while still others, decades later, are still fighting the good fight.

And now, in the midst of the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer, which Aunt Fannie Lou helped organize, I recall the kindness of four people in particular who helped me on my cinematic journey: Heather Booth, Rita Bender, Charles Prickett and Richard Beymer.

Credit: Alabama Department of Archives and History

During what was called the Mississippi Summer Project or Freedom Summer, hundreds of college students — mostly middle- and upper-class whites — descended upon Mississippi as volunteers to build support for the MFDP’s challenge; to teach at the Freedom Schools and to encourage Black residents to register to vote.

Richard Beymer had heard about the struggles in Mississippi, and he and his friend, Charles Prickett, another young volunteer, wanted to help. Richard was a hot commodity in Hollywood at the time. Five years earlier, he portrayed Peter Van Daan in the 1959 Academy Award-winning film, “The Diary of Anne Frank.” And in 1961, he played “Tony” in another Oscar winner, “West Side Story” opposite Natalie Wood.

An independent filmmaker, Richard is the only known person to document the events of Freedom Summer and then compile them in his 1964 film, A Regular Bouquet. Aunt Fannie Lou was heavily featured in the film, which was narrated by another well-known actor of that era, Robert Ryan.

Richard and Charles traveled across Mississippi filming and documenting the Freedom Schools, voter registration projects, mass meetings and other like events that summer.

“One of our stops was in Sunflower County … at the home of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer. She was very welcoming and gracious, and invited us to stay at her home, which we did,” said Charles Prickett, an activist, attorney and author. “Mrs. Hamer had love and compassion for everyone, and we were privileged to accept her kindness … There is so much more I can say about the intensely caring person Mrs. Hamer was. She was very clear about what she wanted to achieve and how your individual contribution could help. She was open to sharing her home to anyone, to us – strangers. She was always in the moment and that says a lot about her.”

Freedom Summer officially began on June 14, 1964, and one week later, three volunteers — two white men and one Black — went missing. The local man, James Chaney, was from Meridian. The others, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were from New York.

During an extensive search for the trio, federal investigators combed the woods, fields, swamps, and rivers of Mississippi, ultimately finding the remains of eight other Black men, including two college students who had been missing since May. The battered and bruised bodies of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner were found buried 14 feet deep in an earthen dam on August 4. All had been shot. Chaney had been castrated and Goodman was buried alive.  

Aunt Fannie Lou was devastated by the murders and spoke of them often. In an iconic photo, she is comforted by Schwerner’s mother, Anne, while his father, Nathan, stands nearby.

Following the murders, the media sought to turn the story of Schwerner’s young widow, Rita, into a national tragedy. But an activist herself, Rita converted that attention to the many overlooked victims of racial violence and disparities in Mississippi. Rita, still an activist and a civil rights attorney, credits Aunt Fannie Lou with helping her through that ordeal.

“Mrs. Hamer was a remarkable woman,” she said, “and certainly, was one of the people who helped me to get through a difficult time. She was not only emotionally strong, but truly kind and caring. Mrs. Hamer’s support was a major contribution to my personal path forward.”

Heather Booth, now a renowned organizer, activist and filmmaker, was another Freedom Summer volunteer.

“I met Mrs. Hamer at her home in Ruleville … and her moral courage, her clarity, her deep commitment to decency and caring has stayed with me my whole life. She treated me, an 18-year-old student, with the same kind of caring and decency as she did with everyone else. I try to carry on her legacy. And … one of the greatest honors of my life [was] to have met Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer.”

Aunt Fannie Lou truly motivated and empowered others. And her former colleagues and friends all agree that her legacy must be preserved and amplified since there is so much we can still learn from her.

Aunt Fannie Lou experienced things that many people today can’t even begin to imagine: The atrocities of Jim Crow and segregation, gross miscarriages of justice and the constant threat of intimidation and death.

Her vision of equal rights for everyone has yet to fully materialize. But her sacrifices and her efforts to achieve that goal should never be forgotten.  

Aunt Fannie Lou accomplished so much. But deep down, she confessed to a dear friend that she wondered if she was truly making a difference. She did. And that’s something we all can be grateful for.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

Mississippi Today

Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday

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mississippitoday.org – @alxrzr – 2025-04-25 16:04:00

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.

A truck sits in high water after the owner parked, then boated to his residence on Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg as a rising Mississippi River causes backwater flooding, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”

The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.

A rising Mississippi River causing backwater flooding near Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.
Old tires aligned a backyard as a deterrent to rising water north of Vicksburg along U.S. 61, Friday, April 25, 2025.
As the Mississippi River rises, backwater flooding creeps towards a home located on Falk Steel Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”

The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Flood waters along Kings Point Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.

“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”

NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.

The boat launch area is closed and shored up on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The boat launch area (right) is closed and under water on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
City of Vicksburg workers shore up the bank along Levee Street as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The old pedestrian bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:07:00

Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed. 

They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them. 

Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother. 

“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.” 

Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023. 

Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board. 

The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities. 

Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board. 

In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties. 

The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more. 

From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths. 

“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said. 

Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.

A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents. 

Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed. 

In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.

Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records. 

Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson. 

Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.  

He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media. 

Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary. 

Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents. 

At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.

“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

Court to rule on DeSoto County Senate districts with special elections looming

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:06:00

A federal three-judge panel will rule in coming days on how political power in northwest Mississippi will be allocated in the state Senate and whether any incumbents in the DeSoto County area might have to campaign against each other in November special elections.  

The panel, comprised of all George W. Bush-appointed judges, ordered state officials last week to, again, craft a new Senate map for the area in the suburbs of Memphis. The panel has held that none of the state’s prior maps gave Black voters a realistic chance to elect candidates of their choice. 

The latest map proposed by the all-Republican State Board of Election Commissioners tweaked only four Senate districts in northwest Mississippi and does not pit any incumbent senators against each other. 

The state’s proposal would keep the Senate districts currently held by Sen. Michael McLendon, a Republican from Hernando and Sen. Kevin Blackwell, a Republican from Southaven, in majority-white districts. 

But it makes Sen. David Parker’s district a slightly majority-Black district. Parker, a white Republican from Olive Branch, would run in a district with a 50.1% black voting-age population, according to court documents. 

The proposal also maintains the district held by Sen. Reginald Jackson, a Democrat from Marks, as a majority-Black district, although it reduces the Black voting age population from 61% to 53%.  

Gov. Tate Reeves, Secretary of State Michael Watson, and Attorney General Lynn Fitch comprise the State Board of Election Commissioners. Reeves and Watson voted to approve the plan. But Watson, according to meeting documents, expressed a wish that the state had more time to consider different proposals. 

Fitch did not attend the meeting, but Deputy Attorney General Whitney Lipscomb attended in her place. Lipscomb voted against the map, although it is unclear why. Fitch’s office declined to comment on why she voted against the map because it involves pending litigation. 

The reason for redrawing the districts is that the state chapter of the NAACP and Black voters in the state sued Mississippi officials for drawing legislative districts in a way that dilutes Black voting power. 

The plaintiffs, represented by the ACLU, are likely to object to the state’s newest proposal, and they have until April 29 to file an objection with the court

The plaintiffs have put forward two alternative proposals for the area in the event the judges rule against the state’s plans. 

The first option would place McLendon and Blackwell in the same district, and the other would place McLendon and Jackson in the same district. 

It is unclear when the panel of judges will issue a ruling on the state’s plan, but they will not issue a ruling until the plaintiffs file their remaining court documents next week. 

While the November election is roughly six months away, changing legislative districts across counties and precincts is technical work, and local election officials need time to prepare for the races. 

The judges have not yet ruled on the full elections calendar, but U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Leslie Southwick said at a hearing earlier this month that the panel was committed have the elections in November. 

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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