Drawing on recently declassified sources on both Hamer and the civil rights movement, including unredacted FBI and Department of Justice files, Kate Clifford Larson's Walk With Me makes full use of interviews with Civil Rights activists conducted by the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress, and Democratic National Committee archives, in addition to extensive conversations with Hamer's family and with those with whom she worked most closely. Walk With Me captures the spirit, and the voice, that led the fight for freedom and equality in America at its critical moment.
Larson, a visiting scholar at Brandeis’s Women’s Studies Research Center, draws from pathbreaking research on Hamer, including books by Kay Mills, Chana Kai Lee, Earnest Bracey and Maegan Parker Brooks, as well as oral histories and newly available census records and digitized newspapers, to offer an inspired account of Hamer’s contributions. Walk With Me is a gripping and skillfully researched political biography that embeds Hamer’s personal history within a compelling account of the post-World War II civil rights movement.
Kate Clifford Larson’s book Walk With Me: A Biography of Fannie Lou Hamer brings her story and eventual emergence as a civil rights leader into view, providing a fresh look at the oft-repeated stories of the civil rights movement ... Larson’s biography provides needed context for understanding that moment. The book’s emergence now also shows that sometimes it takes time for the value of something to come to light.
... gripping ... Larson uncovers new sources to tell an in-depth, revelatory narrative about Hamer ... An inspiring read for activists fighting for voting rights and against racism.
