Pioneer Profile: Fannie Lou Hamer

Photo courtesy of Woodland Hills Church.

Food is a political weapon. That is what Fannie Lou Hamer understood about her hometown of Ruleville, Mississippi. She realized that if you had “a pig in your backyard” and “some vegetables in your garden, you can feed yourself and your family, and nobody can push you around.”

In 1967 she founded the Freedom Farm Cooperative as an anti-poverty strategy. One of its three goals was to develop an agricultural cooperative that would provide food and nutrition to its members, most of whom were impoverished Black sharecroppers and farm workers. The cooperative was a way for farm workers to grow food on land purchased by the group with money raised through membership fees and outside donations. The cooperative’s other two goals were to build clean, affordable housing and to create a small business incubator wherein individuals could retain new skills and receive business resources. 

The cooperative allowed Black farmers to stay on the land and, through their own labor, build a sustainable community. The cooperative also spurred political activity among the farm workers. Fannie Lou Hamer was a fervent political activist and educated the farmers and workers about participation and registration in the electoral system.

Fannie Lou Hammer saw her vision of economic participation as a path to political participation come to life. She was a dynamic speaker and attracted many influential donors that believed in her movement. She developed an epicenter of self-reliance and self-determination in an area of oppression and deprivation. For those who are looking to build more sustainable communities, Fannie Lou Hammer is a model of community resilience.