70. Until I Am Free with Dr. Keisha N. Blain

Here's Where It Gets Interesting

Sharon McMahon

Government, History, Storytelling, Education

4.9 • 15.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, Dr. Keisha Blain joins Sharon to talk about voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. In her new book, Until I Am Free, Dr. Blain chronicles the life of Fannie Lou Hamer, a change-maker who has been set on the back shelf of history. Fannie Lou gave a powerful speech at the Democratic National Convention in 1964 at a time when Black voter suppression and violence against Black Americans was practiced across the country, especially in the South. Learn about how the Civil Rights Movement isn’t an event we can leave to history, but a significant era that’s still impacting Black American voters today.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello friends, so happy you're here today! I'm chatting with Dr. Kisha Blaine about
0:06.6	her new book called Until I Am Free. And I think you will love this book. It is
0:13.7	about a civil rights hero. One of those women who is kind of sometimes relegated
0:20.9	to the backshelves of history but shouldn't be. Her name is Fanny Lou Hamer and I
0:27.3	think you will find her message incredibly inspirational uplifting and also eye opening.
0:34.4	So let's dive into my conversation with Dr. Kisha Blaine. I'm Sharon Nickban and welcome to
0:40.1	the Sharon Says So Podcast. Dr. Blaine, thank you so much for joining me today. I am absolutely
0:47.2	delighted to chat with you. Thank you so much for having me. I read with interest, with great interest,
0:56.4	your new book. And I knew that the people who listed this podcast would find the subject of
1:02.0	this book fascinating. So can you start just by introducing yourself and then we'll talk more about
1:08.3	some of the things that are in your new work? Sure. Well, my name is Kisha Blaine and I teach
1:15.1	history at the University of Pittsburgh. I'm particularly interested in 20th century US history,
1:21.5	African American history and the modern African diaspora. I've written several books before this one.
1:28.8	My first book is called, Set the World on Fire. It's on Black National's Women primarily in the US
1:34.8	but also across the globe. And this new book which I've just published is on Civil Rights Fanny
1:40.2	Lou Hamer really fits within the larger themes of my research. I tend to focus on Black women's
1:46.1	history. I'm interested in global politics as well as national politics and try as much as
1:52.3	possible to center the ideas and experiences of individuals who we generally do not know much about.
1:58.7	I relate to that so much. That is my personal interest in history too. I mean, George Washington
2:03.5	is an interesting historic character but there's approximately 12,000 books right now. Right.
2:08.8	I would love to know why you settled on her, Fanny Lou Hamer as a subject. What made her interesting to you?
2:18.5	So many reasons. I think as a historian I tend to encounter historical figures who are
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