I always said if I lived to get grown and had a chance, I was going to try to get something for my mother and I was going to do something for the black man of the South if it would cost my life; I was determined to see that things were changed.

Fannie Lou Hamer (October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977), born Fannie Lou Townsend, was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader.

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Quotes

  • It is only when we speak what is right that we stand a chance at night of being blown to bits in our homes. Can we call this a free country, when I am afraid to go to sleep in my own home in Mississippi?... I might not live two hours after I get back home, but I want to be a part of setting the Negro free in Mississippi.
    • As quoted in This Little Light of Mine, ch. 8, by Hay Mills (1993). Said on September 13, 1965, in a hearing before the United States House of Representatives' Subcommittee on Elections.
  • With the people, for the people, by the people. I crack up when I hear it; I say, with the handful, for the handful, by the handful, 'cause that's what really happens.
    • As quoted in This Little Light of Mine, ch. 8, by Hay Mills (1993).
  • I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
    • Widely quoted, including Freedomways, p. 240 (Second quarter, 1965). This quote was later employed as her epitaph, and used by American singer and songwriter Anastacia at her song Sick and Tired.
  • It's time for America to get right.
    • As quoted in This Little Light of Mine, ch. 8, by Hay Mills (1993).
  • I always said if I lived to get grown and had a chance, I was going to try to get something for my mother and I was going to do something for the black man of the South if it would cost my life; I was determined to see that things were changed.
    • As quoted in Freedomways, p. 232 (Second quarter, 1965).
  • When they asked for those to raise their hands who'd go down to the courthouse the next day, I raised mine. Had it up high as I could get it. I guess if I'd had any sense, I'd have been a little scared — but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it kinda seemed like they'd been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.
    • As quoted in The Crosswinds of Freedom, 1932-1988, p. 636, by James MacGregor Burns (2012)
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