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Fannie Lou Hamer article:

I noticed that Hamer's article is devoid of any detail about her involvement in the Freedom Farm. I plan to expand on her impact on that movement, as it is commonly overshadowed by her other accomplishments.

References:

Hamer, Fannie Lou. “‘The Special Plight and the Role of the Black Woman’ (1971).” Available Means: An Anthology Of Women'S Rhetoric(s), edited by Joy Ritchie and Kate Ronald, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa, 2001, pp. 263–266. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5hjqnj.47

Cooley, Angela (2015). Dethroning the Deceitful Pork Chop: Rethinking African American Foodways from Slavery to Obama. University of Arkansas Press. Retrieved 17 September 2017

UFFELMAN, MINOA D. (2009). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture (3 ed.). University of North Carolina Press. Retrieved 17 September 2017.

ASCH, CHRIS MYERS. “‘Cotton Is Dynamite’: New Deals in Sunflower County.” The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer, University of North Carolina Press, 2008, pp. 65–98. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807878057_asch.7.

ASCH, CHRIS MYERS. “‘From Cotton—to Communism—to Segregation!’: The Senator’s Rise to Power.” The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer, University of North Carolina Press, 2008, pp. 132–166. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807878057_asch.9.

ASCH, CHRIS MYERS. “‘The Pendulum Is Swinging Back.’” The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer, University of North Carolina Press, 2008, pp. 253–278. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807878057_asch.14.

ASCH, CHRIS MYERS. “Planter’s Son, Sharecroppers’ Daughter.” The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer, University of North Carolina Press, 2008, pp. 33–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9780807878057_asch.6.

SEWELL, GEORGE A., and MARGARET L. DWIGHT. “Clyde Kennard: Quest for Knowledge at USM.” Mississippi Black History Makers, University Press of Mississippi, 1984, pp. 131–133. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2tvh56.55.

Cleaver, Kathleen Neal. “Sister Act.” Transition, no. 60, 1993, pp. 84–100. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2934920.

Deppe, Martin L., and James R. Ralph. “THE HUNGER CAMPAIGN.” Operation Breadbasket: An Untold Story of Civil Rights in Chicago, 1966–1971, University of Georgia Press, Athens, 2017, pp. 122–134. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1g0b9gn.14.

PUCKETT, SUSAN, and LANGDON CLAY. “SUNFLOWER COUNTY: Homegrown Legends.” Eat Drink Delta: A Hungry Traveler's Journey through the Soul of the South, University of Georgia Press, 2013, pp. 181–201. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt17573w1.15.

WITT, DORIS. “‘My Kitchen Was the World’: Vertamae Smart Grosvenor’s Geechee Diaspora.” Black Hunger: Soul Food and America, NED - New edition ed., University of Minnesota Press, 1999, pp. 155–182. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5749/j.cttttkdq.10.

UFFELMAN, MINOA D., and CHARLES REAGAN WILSON. “Home Extension Services.” The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 13: Gender, edited by NANCY BERCAW and TED OWNBY, University of North Carolina Press, 2009, pp. 324–326. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469616728_bercaw.95.

Daniel, Pete. “FREEDOM AUTUMN.” Dispossession: Discrimination against African American Farmers in the Age of Civil Rights, University of North Carolina Press, 2013, pp. 58–99. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469602028_daniel.7.

Rodriguez, Cheryl. “Invoking Fannie Lou Hamer: Research, Ethnography And Activism In Low-Income Communities.” Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development, vol. 32, no. 2, 2003, pp. 231–251. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40553627.

Sojourner, Sue [Lorenzi], et al. “The Holmes County Community Center: November 1964–January 1965.” Thunder of Freedom: Black Leadership and the Transformation of 1960s Mississippi, University Press of Kentucky, 2013, pp. 67–78. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt2jcj2c.11.

Lundberg, Chris. “Fannie Lou Hamer.” Off Our Backs, vol. 7, no. 3, 1977, pp. 6–6. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/25792261.

MOYE, J. TODD, and CHARLES REAGAN WILSON. “Hamer, Fannie Lou: (1917–1977) CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST.” The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture: Volume 13: Gender, edited by NANCY BERCAW and TED OWNBY, University of North Carolina Press, 2009, pp. 322–324. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469616728_bercaw.94.

Payne, Charles. “Contemporary Sociology.” Contemporary Sociology, vol. 24, no. 2, 1995, pp. 195–195. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2076855.

Visser-Maessen, Laura. “A Moment Lost.” Robert Parris Moses: A Life in Civil Rights and Leadership at the Grassroots, University of North Carolina Press, CHAPEL HILL, 2016, pp. 218–252. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.5149/9781469627991_visser-maessen.13.

Assignment 8:

One of her most overlooked accomplishments is her impact on the farming industry. Specifically, the public rarely hears about her involvement in founding and operating the Freedom Farm Cooperative.

Equality across all aspects of society was at the forefront of Hamer's mission. She operated the Freedom Farm Cooperative with three main objectives in mind: 1) to establish an agricultural organization that would have the capacity to supplement the nutritional needs of the America's most disenfranchised peoples; 2) to provide acceptable housing development; and 3) to create an entrepreneurial clearinghouse—a small business incubator that would provide resources for new business owners and a re-training for those with limited educational skills but with manual labor experience. [1] To her mind, African-Americans were not technically free if they were not afforded the same opportunities as Whites, and that included the agricultural industry. Sharecropping was the most common form of post-slavery activity and income in the South. The New Deal era expanded in so that many Blacks were physically and economically displaced due to the various projects appearing around the country. Hamer did not wish to have Blacks be dependent on any other group for any longer; so, she sought to give them a voice through an agricultural movement. [2]

James Eastland, a Southern White senator, was among the groups of people who sought to keep African-Americans disenfranchised and segregated from society. He, along with others, believed that everyone had a position in society; those positions often left Blacks at the bottom of the barrel. His influence on the overarching agricultural industry often suppressed minority groups to keep Whites as the only power force in America. [2] Fannie Lou Hamer was not happy with this motive so she pioneered the Freedom Farm, an attempt to redistribute economic power across groups and to solidify an economic standing amongst African-Americans. Though slavery was over and Blacks were no longer picking cotton for free, it was still a constant struggle for Blacks to provide for their families and create a stable lives. Hamer proclaimed that "You can give a man some food and he'll eat it. Then he'll be hungry again. But, give a man some ground and he'll never be hungry no more."

Through her main tactic of using Christian love to foster change, Fannie Lou often referenced the Book of Acts in the Bible to describe her motives: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute their possessions to all, as any had need (2:44-45).” Her dream was for there to be no division among peoples and for the Black lower class to be able to stand on their own. Post-slavery, the laws of Jim Crow crippled the Black community to no end, leaving most Blacks without any rights or voice in the government. Some would say that there was a shared "plantation mentality" among newly-freed slaves and, consequently, this left them perpetually dependent on their white counterparts until some relief was achieved. [2] One way Blacks could escape this thought process was to get educated.

Fannie Lou made it her mission to make land more accessible to African-Americans. In order to do this, Hamer started a small “pig bank.” With a starting donation from the National Council of Negro Women of five boars and fifty giltsThrough the pig bank, a family could care for a pregnant female pig until it bore its offspring; subsequently, they would raise the piglets and use them for food and financial gain. [2] Within five years, thousands of pigs were available for breeding. Hamer used the success of the pig bank to begin fundraising for the main farming corporation. She was able to convince the editor of the Harvard [University] Crimson, James Fallows, to write an article that advocated for donations to the Freedom Farm.

Eventually, the Freedom Farm Corporation (FFC) had raised around $8,000. Originating in Sunflower County, Mississippi, The Freedom Farm started with 40 acres of land that was previously owned by a black farmer named C.B. Pratt who could not afford to house the land any longer. [3] Some whites were visibly bothered by this aggressive course of action , but this did not discourage Fannie Lou Hamer or her efforts to give poor African-Americans a voice.

The Freedom Farm Corporation evolved into a farm that offered various other services such as financial counseling service, a scholarship fund and a housing agency. Offering employment also provided a step toward economic independence. The FFC aided in securing 35 FHA-subsidized houses for struggling Black families. Fannie Lou even helped herself get a new home that served as an inspiration for others to begin building themselves up. [2]

Hamer sought equality across all aspects of society and was involved with the founding and operation of the Freedom Farm Cooperative in 1969, which she operated with three main objectives in mind. These were to establish an agricultural organization that would have the capacity to supplement the nutritional needs of the America's most disenfranchised peoples; to provide acceptable housing development; and to create an entrepreneurial clearinghouse—a small business incubator that would provide resources for new business owners and a re-training for those with limited educational skills but with manual labor experience.[4]

According to Hamer, African-Americans were not technically free if they were not afforded the same opportunities as Whites, and that included the agricultural industry. Sharecropping was the most common form of post-slavery activity and income in the South. The New Deal era expanded in so that many Blacks were physically and economically displaced due to the various projects appearing around the country. Hamer did not wish to have Blacks be dependent on any other group for any longer; so, she wanted to give them a voice through an agricultural movement. [2][5]

James Eastland, a Southern White senator, was among the groups of people who sought to keep African-Americans disenfranchised and segregated from society. He, along with others, believed that everyone had a position in society; those positions often left Blacks at the bottom of the barrel. His influence on the overarching agricultural industry often suppressed minority groups to keep Whites as the only power force in America. [2][6] Hamer was not happy with this motive so she pioneered the Freedom Farm, an attempt to redistribute economic power across groups and to solidify an economic standing amongst African-Americans.

Through her main tactic of using Christian love to foster change, Fannie Lou often referenced the Book of Acts in the Bible to describe her motives: “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute their possessions to all, as any had need (2:44-45).” Her dream was for there to be no division among peoples and for the Black lower class to be able to stand on their own.

Hamer made it her mission to make land more accessible to African-Americans. In order to do this, Hamer started a small “pig bank" with a starting donation from the National Council of Negro Women of five boars and fifty gilts. Through the pig bank, a family could care for a pregnant female pig until it bore its offspring; subsequently, they would raise the piglets and use them for food and financial gain. [2][7] Within five years, thousands of pigs were available for breeding. Hamer used the success of the pig bank to begin fundraising for the main farming corporation. She was able to convince the then-editor of the Harvard Crimson, James Fallows, to write an article that advocated for donations to the Freedom Farm. [2][8]

Eventually, the Freedom Farm Corporation (FFC) had raised around $8,000 which Hamer to purchase 40 acres of land previously owned by a black farmer who could not afford to house the land any longer. [25] This newly-bought land became the Freedom Farm. Over time, The Freedom Farm Corporation evolved into a farm that offered various other services such as financial counseling service, a scholarship fund and a housing agency. Offering employment also provided a step toward economic independence. The FFC aided in securing 35 FHA-subsidized houses for struggling Black families. Through her success, Hamer even helped herself get a new home that served as an inspiration for others to begin building themselves up. [24] However, the Freedom Farm Cooperative ultimately disbanded in 1975 due to lack of funding. [9]

  1. ^ White, Monica M. (2007). “A pig and a garden”: Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Farms Cooperative. In Food and Foodways. November 1, 2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2017.1270647
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Myers-Asch, Chris (2008). The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer. University of North Carolina Press. pp. 33–64.
  3. ^ Hamer, Fannie Lou (1971). The Special Plight and the Role of the Black Woman. Pittsburg, Pennsylania: University of Pittsburgh Press. pp. 263–266.
  4. ^ White, Monica M. (2 January 2017). ""A pig and a garden": Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Farms Cooperative". Food and Foodways. pp. 20–39. doi:10.1080/07409710.2017.1270647.
  5. ^ ASCH, CHRIS MYERS (2008). "The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer". University of North Carolina Press. doi:10.5149/9780807878057_asch.
  6. ^ ASCH, CHRIS MYERS (2008). "The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer". University of North Carolina Press. doi:10.5149/9780807878057_asch.
  7. ^ ASCH, CHRIS MYERS (2008). "The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer". University of North Carolina Press. doi:10.5149/9780807878057_asch.
  8. ^ ASCH, CHRIS MYERS (2008). "The Senator and the Sharecropper: The Freedom Struggles of James O. Eastland and Fannie Lou Hamer". University of North Carolina Press. doi:10.5149/9780807878057_asch.
  9. ^ White, Monica M. (2 January 2017). ""A pig and a garden": Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Farms Cooperative". Food and Foodways. pp. 20–39. doi:10.1080/07409710.2017.1270647.