Fannie Lou Hamer

Woe was Fannie Lou Hamer! She was one courageous fed-up black woman. In an article we read about her, she spoke up and let her feelings out towards issues. She was basically saying she was fed up about how she, as a woman, was to feel "lower" than a white woman, and she wanted everyone to be on the same level, no upper class, middle class, white, black, woman, man, etc. I really admired her in this article because she had to be real bold to actually speak up and say the words that she said! She said that she wasn't fighting for equality nor to be liberated, but rather recognized just like any other person in the world, rather than a black woman being at the bottom of the chain. In my opinion, she wasn't really bashing or putting down others, but rather speaking her mind and telling the truth about things that people were afraid to say. This whole article to me basically tells me that in the end, we're all human beings trying to make a living, so why can't we just be that? [human beings making a living with no hierarchy.] In the end, she ended her speech with a story about an old man who was very wise and knew every answer to a question. These two young people were going to trick him and ask him "This that we hold in our hands today, is it alive or is it dead?' If he says 'Dead', we're going to turn it loose and let it fly. But if he says 'Alive', we're going to crush it." They walked up to the old man and asked him "This that we hold in our hands today, is it alive or is it dead?" The old man looked at these two young people and smiled, saying "It's in your hands." I thought this was a very POWERFUL ending. To me, this story about the old man basically says "LIFE IS WHAT WE MAKE IT!"