Black American Experience-Famous Human Rights Crusaders: Ida B. Wells & Fannie Lou Hammer

FAMOUS HUMAN RIGHTS CRUSADERS: IDA B. WELLS & FANNIE LOU HAMMER IDA B. WELLS: A community organizer and grass roots leader who was a precursor of the modern Civil Rights movement. FANNIE LOU HAMMER: An inspiration to anyone who has ever faced oppression & a powerful reminder of what one individual is capable of achieving in the face of adversity. One of the true icons of the Civil Rights movement. IDA B WELLS walked the long road from slavery to freedom and equality. Born 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi to parents who were former slaves, she rose to challenge and strongly condemn American lynching in the South. Her work as teacher, journalist and human rights activist brought worldwide attention to this brutality. She was a community organizer and grass roots leader who was a precursor of the modern Civil Rights movement. Her inspiring story takes us from Memphis, to Chicago, Washington D.C. and England. From penning editorials and publishing the first expose on the horrors of lynching, The Red Record, to touring America and Europe as a speaker and protestor, Ida B. Wells was a true crusader in the fight to preserve human rights. Her relentless public battle against the injustices of lynching won her more enemies than friends in her time, but she is remembered today as a strong woman, tireless crusader and a true American hero. FANNIE LOU HAMER born in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi was the granddaughter of a slave and the youngest of 20 children. Raised by hardworking parents who were sharecroppers, she was no stranger to poverty or hardship. An inspirational speaker and writer, she used her powerful voice to raise the cause of equality and freedom for all blacks in America and became a defining force in the fight against social injustice during the early years of the civil rights movement. In this rare documentary, her struggles and triumphs are expressed through Hamer‰۪s own words as well as those of friends and colleagues. While attending the 1964 Democratic National Convention, Fannie Lou Hamer posed the defining question: ‰ÛÏIs this America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? Where we have to sleep with our telephone off the hook, because our lives be threatened daily because we want to live in peace as human beings in America?‰۝ She will be remembered for winning the right to vote for Black Americans and exposing America‰۪s poverty by giving a voice to those in need. This program is an inspiration to anyone who has ever faced oppression and acts as a powerful reminder of what one individual is capable of achieving in the face of adversity. Bonus Material: Each program includes 24 minutes of Bonus material.