Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
It was the 31st of August in 1962 that eighteen of us traveled twenty-six miles to the county courthouse in Indianola to try to register to become first-class citizens. We was met in Indianola by policemen, Highway Patrolmen, and they only allowed two of us in to take the literacy test at the time.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the struggle for civil rights and the determination to achieve equality.
Fannie Lou Hamer's quote captures the essence of the fight for civil rights in America, specifically highlighting the challenges faced by African Americans in their pursuit of voting rights. The journey to register for the ability to participate fully as citizens underscores the systemic barriers imposed on them, and reveals the courage and resilience of those who dared to challenge injustice despite facing oppression, discrimination, and violence.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for equal voting rights.
Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.
You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something, God is not going to put it in your lap.
People have got to get together and work together. I'm tired of the kind of oppression that white people have inflicted on us and are still trying to inflict.
One day, I know the struggle will change. There's got to be a change - not only for Mississippi, not only for the people in the United States, but people all over the world.
Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with our telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings in America?
I was forced away from the plantation because I wouldn't go back and withdraw, you know, my literacy test after I had tried to take it. I wouldn't go back.
The wheelchair and the prosthesis give me a soapbox to stand on. If it helps me get my message across, I'm glad; then we need to talk about what we need to do for this country.
Do what is necessary to be resilient. You will get knocked down. What matters is that you get back up.
When I was depressed, nobody expected anything of me, nor did I expect anything of myself. I was exempt from life's demands and risks. But if I were to find new life, who knows what daunting tasks I might be required to take on?
My father told me about American democracy. And he said you have to be actively engaged in the political process to make our democracy work. So I've been doing that my entire life. Civil rights movement. The peace movement during the Vietnam conflict. The movement to get an apology and redress for Japanese-Americans.
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me.
It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.