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LABOR POEM OF THE WEEK: When Fannie Lou Hamer Said

Chris Garlock | Published on 10/19/2025

When Fannie Lou Hamer Said

I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired 
           She meant
                      No more turned cheek
                      No more patience for the obstruction
                      of black woman’s right to vote
                      & plant & feed her family

           She meant
                      Equality will cost you your luxurious life
                      If a Black woman can’t vote
                      If a brown baby can’t be fed
                      If we all don’t have the same opportunity America promised

Mahogany L. Browne; read the rest of her poem
here.

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