The project, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, and several other recipients of the 2022 Public Humanities Awards were named by the MHC in an official press release on Thursday, Dec. 2. The annual awards ceremony held in Jackson, began in 1994 and recognizes the outstanding work by Mississippians in bringing the insights of the humanities to public audiences. The film, Fannie Lou Hamer’s America, the centerpiece of the project, is slated for nationwide broadcast on PBS in February 2022.
The documentary is produced by Hamer’s niece, Monica Land, and Selena Lauterer of Artemis Independent. The film’s director and editor is Joy Elaine Davenport and the lead researchers and consultants are Fannie Lou Hamer authors and historians, Drs. Maegan Parker Brooks and Davis Houck. The project also features a digital K-12 educational curriculum written and developed by Brooks, Houck and several Mississippi educators; an animated movie from BrainPOP and a children’s book both developed and written by Brooks; a Driving Tour developed by Houck and the film’s 2nd camera/videographer Dr. Pablo Correa; an annual filmmaker’s workshop for high school students in the Mississippi Delta and an online Fannie Lou Hamer Resource Center for students and researchers on their website, www.fannielouhamersamerica.com. The MHC has awarded the project three grants since 2017, including the “Reflecting Mississippi” Award in October 2022.
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