Episode 8, Season 3 / Nov 30, 2023
Fannie Lou Hamer and the Freedom Farm
In this episode, journalist Brittany Brown tells the story of Fannie Lou Hamer’s Freedom Farm, a radical cooperative initiative that sought to bring food sovereignty to northern Mississippi. Join Brown as she speaks to experts to learn more about Hamer’s life and work, and visits a farm in Montgomery County, Mississippi, to discover how Hamer’s vision of environmental justice resonates with Black landowners today.
Katie Gilbert's 2017 report—which spotlights how Hamer's legacy of economic cooperation lives on in Jackson, Mississippi—appeared in the pages of Oxford American’s 98th issue. The feature includes original photography by Rett Peek. Read the full story here.
Listen to a powerful collection of 1963 field recordings—hymns, folk songs, interviews, and more—all delivered by Fannie Lou Hamer. First compiled and conceptualized as a limited-edition cassette by folklorist Worth Long in 1983, the Smithsonian Folkways African American Legacy Series rereleased the album in 2015.
Part of the OA’s “On Jubilee” series, this essay finds Mississippi author W. Ralph Eubanks remembering another initiative that links food independence, civil rights, and environmental justice. Read the full story here.
