Author Description

<b><b>National Book Critics Circle 2021 Biography Finalist</b><br><br><b>53rd NAACP Image Award Nominee: Outstanding Literary Work - Biography/Autobiography</b><br><br>“[A] riveting and timely exploration of Hamer’s life. . . . Brilliantly constructed to be both forward and backward looking, Blain’s book functions simultaneously as a much needed history lesson and an indispensable guide for modern activists.”—<i>New York Times Book Review</i></b><br><br><b><i>Ms. Magazine</i> “Most Anticipated Reads for the Rest of Us – 2021” · <i>KIRKUS</i> STARRED REVIEW · <i>BOOKLIST</i> STARRED REVIEW · <i>Publishers Weekly</i> Big Indie Books of Fall 2021</b> <br><b><br></b> <b>Explores the Black activist’s ideas and political strategies, highlighting their relevance for tackling modern social issues including voter suppression, police violence, and economic inequality.</b><br><br><i>“We have a long fight and this fight is not mine alone, but you are not free whether you are white or black, until I am free.”<br>—Fannie Lou Hamer</i><br><br>A blend of social commentary, biography, and intellectual history, <i>Until I Am Free</i> is a manifesto for anyone committed to social justice. The book challenges us to listen to a working-poor and disabled Black woman activist and intellectual of the civil rights movement as we grapple with contemporary concerns around race, inequality, and social justice.<br><br>Award-winning historian and <i>New York Times</i> best-selling author Keisha N. Blain situates Fannie Lou Hamer as a key political thinker alongside leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks and demonstrates how her ideas remain salient for a new generation of activists committed to dismantling systems of oppression in the United States and across the globe.<br><br>Despite her limited material resources and the myriad challenges she endured as a Black woman living in poverty in Mississippi, Hamer committed herself to making a difference in the lives of othe