Preview
Creation Date
2-14-2024
Description
Wednesday, February 14, 2024 | 12:30 PM | Notre Dame Law School, Eck Hall of Law, McCartan Courtroom
FANNIE is an award winning short film about Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights, human rights, and voting rights activist in the 1960s starring Oscar- nominated actress, Aunjanue Ellis.
The nine-minute short film with Ellis reenacts Fannie Lou Hamer's impassioned "Is This America" speech before the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Hamer, co-founder of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and an organizer of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), detailed to Democratic delegates through her address the brutal violence many Black Americans faced as they attempted to vote. Intimidated by Hamer's candid account of racial discrimination, President Lyndon B. Johnson scheduled a televised press conference to usurp her airtime; however, stations later broadcasted Hamer's heart-rending oration.
The screening will feature commentary from the filmmaker, Christine Swanson, who is a 1994 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a member of the Board of Trustees at Saint Mary's College.
A light meatless lunch will be served after the screening.
Co-sponsored by:
Notre Dame Law School
Hesburgh Democracy Fellows
Notre Dame Law School First Generation Professionals
Notre Dame Black Law Students Association.