The Courage of a Lioness

The Courage of a Lioness


As the hammer came down, she got up,
so they hit her again, just a piece of black smut.
A sharecroppers daughter with nerves of steel,
cried, “Why is hate so deep in white folks toward us?”

Fannie Lou Hamer, a poor colored girl’s voice,
grew up to be a heroine known for fair choice.
Trying to register the black American vote,
beaten and imprisoned, left with no hope.

Fired from her job, death threats and attacks,
like giving birth, she pushed, never held back.
A charismatic voice of an angel, to crowds she spoke.
Even intimidated a President and other white folks.

At the Democratic Convention in 1964,
she preached about her people, horrors they endured.
Lnydon B. Johnson heard what she had to say.
She made an impression on him that very day.

She said later that she should have been scared.
White folks always wanted to kill her with "righteous" fire.
She goes down in history now with MLK Jr.
A tough courageous woman, all freedom fighters admire.



By Kathie Stehr
Feb. 19, 2021
20 lines
Black History Month