In 2022 and 2023, a symposium celebrating the life and legacy of civil rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer was hosted by The Raben Group, The Ford Foundation and The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Panelists included many distinguished guests, including the producers and crew of her award-winning film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America. 

The 2022 symposium: “Tell Like It Is” was held October 6 at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York. Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation and Keshia Blain, Professor of Africana Studies and History at Brown University and author of “Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America,” delivered opening remarks.

The panel began with “Remembering the Life of Fannie Lou Hamer” with comments via Zoom by Hamer’s daughter, Jacqueline Hamer-Flakes, Charles McLaurin who worked with Hamer and Monica Land, Hamer’s niece and producer of the film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America.

Later that morning, Fannie Lou Hamer historians Drs. Davis Houck and Maegan Parker Brooks spoke about Hamer with moderator and author, Dr. Keisha Blain on the subject of “Writing The Life of Fannie Lou Hamer.” 

Houck, Fannie Lou Hamer Professor of Rhetorical Studies at Florida State University and Brooks edited the 2011 book, The Speeches of Fannie Lou Hamer: To Tell Like It is and were also the lead lead researchers on the film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America. They also designed the film’s K-12 curriculum, Find Your Voice.

A screening of Fannie Lou Hamer’s America was held after lunch.

That afternoon, Joy Davenport, director and editor of Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, participated in the discussion: “Hamer’s Lasting Imprint on American Arts and Culture.” Mississippi native Vickie Roberts-Ratliff, who with Houck spearheaded the effort to place a historical marker at the site of Hamer’s jailhouse beating in Winona, MS in June 1963 also spoke about Hamer’s influence.