In a world where women — especially minoritized women, poor women, disabled women, elder women, and other marginalized women all over the globe — ha
“I never had no one to tell me I was not a woman.”
In a world where women — especially minoritized women, poor women, disabled women, elder women, and other marginalized women all over the globe — have been insulted, underestimated, and dehumanized at every turn, it is vital that we reach back and gather the words of those who stood their ground with dignity and fire.
One of those warriors was Fannie Lou Hamer.
She told the truth with a strength that could split mountains wide open.
She once said:
“I never had no one to tell me I was not a woman.”
These words carry the weight of generations. They are a shield against the lies this world often throws at women.
And they remind us of some of the most sacred truths we must hold tightly in our hearts:
🌿 Her Family and Community Upheld Her Humanity.
Even though she lived in one of the most brutal eras of American history, Fannie Lou Hamer was raised in a family and a Black community that affirmed her womanhood.
Inside those circles of love, her value was never in question.
She was seen, celebrated, and honored as a whole, real, beautiful, and worthy woman.
No one inside her community dared to tell her otherwise.
And that rooted her for the storms that were to come.
🌿 A Defiant Declaration Against Dehumanization.
America tried everything to erase the dignity of Black women.
Treated them as labor. As property. As objects. As afterthoughts.
But Fannie Lou Hamer stood tall, even after enduring:
Segregation.
Violence.
Crushing poverty.
Forced sterilization.
Police brutality.
She declared with her life that despite everything they tried — they could not steal her womanhood.
They could not reach that sacred place inside her.
And guess what?
They can’t reach that sacred place inside you either.
🌿 An Honoring of Inner Power and Dignity.
🌿 An Honoring of Inner Power and Dignity.Fannie Lou Hamer knew:
Womanhood is not something granted by society, surgeons, fashion, wealth, or approval.
It is not determined by who likes you, who accepts you, or who recognizes you.
It is born deep within, rooted deeper than hatred could ever dig.
She stood before the world — battered but unbroken — and proclaimed her own humanity.
So must we.
🌿 An Act of Teaching and Passing Down Wisdom.
When Fannie Lou Hamer spoke those words, she wasn’t just speaking for herself.
She was planting seeds for every marginalized woman, every Survivor who would come after her.
She was handing us a key to survival and liberation:
“You are a woman. You are enough. No external system can erase that.”
Not poverty.
Not cruelty.
Not violence.
Not silence.
Not anyone’s false standard of beauty, worth, or success.
You were already whole before they tried to break you.
You are already whole today.
You will be whole tomorrow.
✨ Today’s Invitation
If no one ever told you before, hear it now with your whole spirit:
You are a woman. You are worthy. You are powerful. You are already enough.
We carry Fannie Lou Hamer’s fire in us.
We are living proof that the assaults against dignity have failed.
We are the rising.
We are the testament.
We are the continuation of her sacred declaration.
And just like her —
We will not be moved.
“You have a right to be here.” – Fannie Lou Hamer
“Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired: How Fannie Lou Hamer Speaks to Us Today
The Power of Unapologetic Truth: Fannie Lou Hamer and Zora Neale Hurston (audio/podcast)
When the Truth Ain’t Enough, They Spread Lies: How Rumors Were Used to Silence Civil Rights Women
