Ramani Goode Fannie Lou Hamer delivered a speech on behalf of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to the credentials committee of the Democratic National Convention in 1964 to highlight the gruesome realities facing African Americans, especially those who attempted to vote. Her revelations about the methods used to withhold voting rights and the violent discrimination against blacks who tried to vote shocked the nation, but the most disturbing aspects of her speech were personal stories of the brutality wrought upon her. Hamer’s speech is reflective of the obstacles she faced throughout her life. Her depiction of racist atrocities gripped the attention of the nation at a time when President Johnson was trying to
