Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
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?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote questions the notion of freedom in America, highlighting the paradox of living in fear despite being in a land that promises liberty and bravery.
Fannie Lou Hamer's quote critiques the idea of America as a place of freedom and safety, contrasting it with the real experiences of individuals who feel threatened in their daily lives. It captures the struggle of those who seek to live honorably within a society that often fails to guarantee their safety and peace, raising profound questions about the true meaning of freedom and bravery in the face of systemic oppression and violence.
Themes
FreedomFearSocietyAmericaIdentity
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used at a civil rights rally to highlight ongoing struggles against oppression.
More from Fannie Lou Hamer
All quotes →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.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
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.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
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.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
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.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
Every red stripe in that flag represents the black man's blood that has been shed.
Fannie Lou HamerRead
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