Director Robin N. Hamilton re-releases the documentary about an extraordinary woman who went from picking cotton at age 6 to becoming an indomitable civil rights leader. Capturing a snapshot in time from her historic speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1964, This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer packs power into 30 minutes.
Born one of 20 children on a cotton plantation in Ruleville, Mississippi, Hamer had no education beyond sixth grade. At 44, she was sterilized by a white doctor without her knowledge. That devastating abuse pushed her to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which had actively begun voting registration drives in Mississippi.
During Freedom Summer of 1963, Mrs. Hamer was arrested with her group after a voter registration drive. She suffered a horrible beating in a Winona, Mississippi jail by southern officers, angered by her activism.
Her testimony during the 1964 Democratic National Convention Credentials Committee recounted that beating, making national headlines – and played a part in charting the course of the Civil Rights Movement.
"Though her body was battered, her spirit didn't break. Mrs. Hamer was unwavering and unapologetic for demanding a basic human right every citizen deserves," says Hamilton.
Now available to the public, the film streams throughout February and early March. Go to www.fannielou.com to watch.
Trailer Source: Vimeo
About the director, Robin Hamilton
Robin Hamilton, an Emmy-award winning television host, producer and moderator for townhalls and forums is founder and principal of the ARound Robin Production Company, www.aroundrobin.com. Working at the intersection of media and policy, her mission is to provide information to create transformation.
Her company has produced four documentary films. In addition to This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, she has directed and produced Dignity and Defiance: A Portrait of Mary Church Terrell, Our Alexandria, and Odessa's Reign, which is about a Black female gangster crowned 'Queen of the Underworld', who ran the most lucrative gambling ring in D.C. in the 1950s.
She received two master's degrees, one from New York University, with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and a second in public administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, with a focus on public policy and media.
