AUTHOR: Rachel Dangermond
Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer is a striking book for many reasons. Fannie Lou Hamer was a tour de force and her story is an amazing one. The illustrations by Ekua Holmes are colorful, vivid and expressive and beg for a pause before moving to the next page. Yet, what is most striking is the structure of the book, the narrative is told in Hamer’s own words and organized deftly into easy to digest sections by author, Carole Boston Weatherford.
I read the book to my son and when I closed the book, he said, “That was a long book but totally awesome! Yay to freedom, and no to beatings. [The book gave] very good reasons about why you should be free.” Yes, the book is long for a seven-year-old reading about Civil Rights, but the content in each section is narrated sparingly. From the opening Sunflower Country, Mississippi and through poetry and narration to the last section entitled No Rest, the author takes us through the timeline of Hamer’s remarkable life.
This is an excellent book to add to any child’s bookshelf and as an adult, I, too, came away with a renewed excitement for what one individual can accomplish and admiration for Hamer. Weatherford also includes a timeline in the back to punctuate each of the historic events in this country as well as Hamer’s place in that history. A beautifully rendered book about an iconic American woman.
I read the book to my son and when I closed the book, he said, “That was a long book but totally awesome! Yay to freedom, and no to beatings. [The book gave] very good reasons about why you should be free.” Yes, the book is long for a seven-year-old reading about Civil Rights, but the content in each section is narrated sparingly. From the opening Sunflower Country, Mississippi and through poetry and narration to the last section entitled No Rest, the author takes us through the timeline of Hamer’s remarkable life.
This is an excellent book to add to any child’s bookshelf and as an adult, I, too, came away with a renewed excitement for what one individual can accomplish and admiration for Hamer. Weatherford also includes a timeline in the back to punctuate each of the historic events in this country as well as Hamer’s place in that history. A beautifully rendered book about an iconic American woman.
 | RACHEL DANGERMOND is the author of the forthcoming book, The Elephant In The Playground, a memoir about a Sephardic mom raising a Black son in New Orleans. She is a facilitator with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's Welcome Table, a race reconciliation initiative that began in 2013. She is also a trained mediator and participates with the Department of Justice on community policing topics. Rachel is the founder of Transracial Parenting a wheelhouse of writing, speaking, and workshops helping to advance the conversation of race particularly as it relates to parenting. For more information visit www.transracialparenting.com and follow Transracial Parenting on Facebook. |
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