Lou Ella Townsend was a sharecropper in Mississippi and the mother of Fannie Lou Hamer. Hamer is universally admired, and her mother taught her everything she needed to succeed, including how to protect herself.
Townsend never left home without a 9 mm Luger pistol hidden in a bucket. She was ready for anything, especially racist white men who thought they could test her.
An overseer once struck Townsend’s youngest son in the face. She warned him not to do it again, but the overseer laughed and grabbed at her. Townsend spun him around and threw him to the ground. Terrified, the man got up and ran.
Another time, a white man on horseback threatened to beat Townsend’s niece. She told him, “You don’t have no black children, and you’re not going to beat no black children. If you step down off that horse, I’ll go to Hell and back with you before Hell can scorch a feather.” He didn’t want smoke with Lou Ella either.
Townsend was never afraid of standing up against white supremacy. The fearlessness she lived every day inspired the fighting spirit in her daughter Fannie Lou Hamer. How can we also use our daily resistance as an example to future generations?