Lent 2025 Day 10

Fannie Lou Hamer, Civil Rights Activist
Psalm 34:18 | Philippians 3:17-20

Fannie Lou Hamer was a woman who understood the power of bearing witness. Born in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi, she was the youngest of 20 children in a family of sharecroppers. She began working the fields at the age of six and experienced firsthand the deep racial and economic injustices of the Jim Crow South. Despite her limited formal education, Hamer possessed a keen mind, a strong voice, and an unwavering sense of justice.

Her life changed in 1962 when she attended a meeting led by civil rights activists and learned about her right to vote. Inspired by the call for justice, she attempted to register but was met with violent resistance. She lost her job, was threatened, and later endured brutal beatings at the hands of law enforcement. Yet, through all of this, she remained steadfast in her belief that faith and activism were deeply intertwined. She became a leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), challenging the legitimacy of all-white political representation in the South.

In the face of injustice, she refused to be silent. She stood before Congress in 1964 and testified about the brutal beatings and disenfranchisement she had endured simply for trying to vote. Her voice quivered with emotion, her pain was raw, and yet she spoke truth with a boldness that could not be ignored. Her testimony laid bare the cruelty of racial injustice in America and inspired countless others to stand up for their dignity and their rights.

Psalm 34:18 assures us that God is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Hamer's story is one of suffering, but it is also one of resilience. She did not allow the forces of oppression to define her identity; rather, she claimed the power of her testimony to demand change. She understood that God was near in her struggle—not as a distant observer but as a God who walks with the oppressed. When she sang hymns in jail cells and at protests, she was not just singing; she was praying, preaching, and calling forth the presence of God in the struggle.

Philippians 3:17-20 shifts our perspective beyond the present struggle to the promise of God's kingdom. Hamer knew that her fight was not just for earthly justice but for something greater—a kingdom where all people would be free, where human dignity would no longer be denied, and where suffering would be no more. Yet, she did not use that hope as an excuse for complacency. Instead, she lived as a citizen of heaven by working tirelessly to transform the world around her. Her faith was not an escape from hardship; it was the very foundation that sustained her in the fight.

Lent is a season that calls us to bear witness—to name the ways we have seen God at work in our lives and in the world. Like Fannie Lou Hamer, we are called to speak truth in the face of injustice, even when it is costly. We are called to trust that God is near, even when we feel crushed in spirit. And we are called to live as citizens of God’s kingdom, embodying justice, mercy, and love in all that we do.

Reflection:

• What does it mean for you to bear witness to God’s justice in the world today?
• How has God been near to you in times of struggle or heartbreak?
• How can your faith inspire you to take action, as it did for Fannie Lou Hamer?

Breath Prayer: Inhale: God is near… Exhale: …I will bear witness.

May this Lenten season remind us that faith is not just something we believe but something we live, something we testify to, and something that compels us to act.

Amen.