In this age of shouting that passes for news, the Touring Theatre’s production, The Life and Times of Fannie Lou Hamer, asks audiences to breathe deeply of the human experience as they become acquainted with Fannie Lou Hamer, the daughter of a Mississippi share cropper who grew to become an exceedingly effective civil rights organizer.

With only four actors, the play offers a vivid account of a woman who looked threats of injury and death directly in the face on her journey to become what she called “a first class citizen.”

The production demonstrates the pain and oppression met by black people who challenged the system. It explains the deep emotional scars of African Americans and, it offers an excellent opportunity for students and citizens to discuss openly, in a non-threatening manner, a means of approaching the truth about race relations in their own communities.

The Touring Theatre of North Carolina’s production of The Life and Times of Fannie Lou Hamer has had a positive impact on our students. In addition to the rich connections between the production and the US History standard course of study, students are able to experience the Civil Rights not simply as the actions of public figures and politicians, but as a movement of the American people. The Life and Times of Fannie Lou Hamer helps students to make an authentic emotional connection to a time in our history that with each year’s students slipping further into memory and myth.

Morris Johnson, Social Studies Specialist

Office of Curriculum and Instruction

Guilford County Schools

It is a vital reminder that for the majority in this country, voting is a hard-won symbol of freedom that should never be ignored or taken lightly.

Leslie Mizell, News and Record

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