Fannie Lou Hamer, 1964 — Atlantic City, N.J.

American civil rights history is everywhere

Fannie Lou Hamer, Atlantic City, 1964 — Public Domain

I was in Atlantic City last week. strolled the famous Boardwalk several times. On one occasion, I came across a tribute to the great civil rights leader, Fannie Lou Hamer, of Mississippi, right on the Boardwalk.

I stopped and paused in front of it and then it hit me. A memory from my college days and watching the civil rights documentary, Eyes on the Prize.

Fannie Lou Hamer stood up in 1964 on the convention floor of the Democratic National Convention and demanded that African Americans be given the right to vote. She demanded that the DNC reject the party’s all white segregationist delegation and instead seat the delegates from the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP).

She did this in Atlantic City. I looked to my right and there was the old Convention Center building. The poster was here to mark history. American history.

That day back in August 1964, Mississippi’s contingent was a bunch of Dixiecrats, the pro-segregationist Democrats. They held all the power. But Hamer’s contingent was multiracial. Her contingent truly represented the state.

Here’s a small piece of Hamer’s speech that evening 58 years ago.