This documentary examines the life and legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer, who was a middle-aged sharecropper living in poverty in Mississippi before she rose up to become a pivotal civil rights activist of the 1960s. She helped organize the 1964 Freedom Rides through Mississippi, and she was threatened, arrested and beaten because of her work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. The film will have captions for the hearing impaired.

After the film, director  Robin N. Hamilton will discuss Hamer’s life and the ongoing fight for civil rights with José Morales, projects director for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, which works to end gerrymandering across the country.

The event is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library and the City of Takoma Park’s We Are Takoma cultural series.