Missus hamer was severely beaten in a winona, mississippi jail after several people she was with used the whites only rest room and lunch counter at a bus station. As a result, the white owner of the plantation where her family worked as share crop es evicted them. The following year, night riders shot 16 bullets into a house where they thought the hamers were staying, but they weren't there. I waltte to walk with me from june through august, 19 64, freedom summer. Organizers tried to bring america to mississippi.
In the summer of 1964, about a thousand young Americans, black and white, came together in Mississippi to place themselves in the path of white supremacist power and violence. They issued a bold pro-democracy challenge to the nation and the Democratic Party.
Produced by John Biewen, with series collaborator Chenjerai Kumanyika. Interviews with John Lewis, Bob Moses, Unita Blackwell, Hollis Watkins, Dorie Ladner, and many others.
The series editor is Loretta Williams. Freedom song recordings courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways. Other music by Algiers, John Erik Kaada, Eric Neveux, and Lucas Biewen. Music consulting and production help from Joe Augustine of Narrative Music.
Photo: A Freedom Summer worker in Mississippi, 1964. Photo by Steve Schapiro.