"Fannie" is an award winning short film about Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights, human rights, and voting rights activist in the 1960s starring Oscar- nominated actress, Aunjanue Ellis.
The nine-minute short film with Ellis reenacts Fannie Lou Hamer's impassioned "Is This America'' speech before the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Hamer, co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and an organizer of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), detailed to Democratic delegates through her address the brutal violence many Black Americans faced as they attempted to vote. Intimidated by Hamer's candid account of racial discrimination, President Lyndon B. Johnson scheduled a televised press conference to usurp her airtime; however, stations later broadcasted Hamer's heart-rending oration.
The screening, in the Eck Hall of Law, will feature commentary from the filmmaker, Christine Swanson, who is a 1994 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and serves on the Board of Trustees at Saint Mary's College.
All of campus is welcome to attend. A light lunch will be provided after the screening.
Voter Registration Drive
A voter registration drive will be held in conjunction with the screening from 2-5 p.m. at Duncan Student Center. More information is here.
Sponsored by: Notre Dame Law School, Hesburgh Democracy Fellows, Notre Dame Law School First Generation Professionals, and Notre Dame Black Law Students Association.
Originally published at law.nd.edu.