Multicultural Picture Book: Voice of Freedom, Fannie Lou Hamer

Title: Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer

Author: Carole Weatherford 

Publication: 2015

Illustrator: Ekua Holmes 

"Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer," was another book I purchased at the Bookmarks Fair (which was signed by the author too!!). When I saw this book, I knew I had to have it. During my senior year in college, I learned about Fannie Lou Hamer in my Public Address course. When I heard about her, I wanted to learn more, because she was such a strong voice during the Civil Right's Movement. After reading this book, I now have even more respect for her as a person. 

The book is very graphic in that it tells about her father beating her, the trials her family faced as sharecroppers, her daughter dying in her arms because they couldn't find a "black-serving" hospital, and Fannie Lou being beaten for trying to be educated and vote. I would therefore be cautious in reading this to little kids, but I believe fifth or sixth graders could understand its emotional story line. 

To me, this story is one of the reasons I want to teach. I believe this story does a magnificent job of showcasing the injustices of the past. As a teacher, I believe it is my duty to teach and inform children about past wrongdoings. In doing this, students will be more educated about how to treat people, act justly, and not repeat the injustices of the past. This book can also be applied to daily events happening in our current society, like the problems of police shootings against African-Americans. This would help students analyze whether or not people are dying justly or injustice, fairly or unfairly? Ethically, these are big questions, but ones I want my students to consider.  

The author does an amazing job of capturing Hamer's voice in this book. I have so many favorite quotes that it's hard to just choose a couple. But some of my favorites are below. Author, Weatherford, beautifully uses metaphors, imagery, and descriptive language to help the reader picture exactly what Hamer is describing. Weatherford does exactly what Tunnell and Jacobs describe in their chapter on "Well-written Literature," about showing rather than telling, which adds sensory detail to the writing. 

"Where the soil was as rich as black folks was poor, where cotton was king and Jim Crow the law" (Weatherford, 1). 

"As you get older, you respect yourself as a Black woman. If you respect yourself enough, other people will have to respect you. My mother taught me years ago that black is beautiful" (Weatherford, 5). 

"But I didn't scare easy. I meant to prove that anyone, black or white, rich or poor, could get involved in American politics. I cast my first vote for myself" (Weatherford, 23).

Through these quotes, a reader can accurately gain a sense of what Hamer's personality was like: defiant, courageous, motherly, and strong. She stood up for what was right, when no one else had the guts to. She also went through many hardships, but her story shows that one can fight through it, and it makes that person even more stronger and tougher.

I believe and stand up for everything this book embodies: promoting justice, showing the tough path towards freedom, and teaching others to treat people equally and empathize with their situation in life. I hope to use this book one day to impart some knowledge on children's lives and as Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird would say, teach them to "climb into someone else's skin and walk around in it."