#51 Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Legacy with Joy Davenport

In this episode, I had the honor of speaking with filmmaker Joy Davenport, whose documentary Fannie Lou Hamer’s America is a must watch. Joy and I had a great conversation about Hamer’s life and activism, as well as the personal inspiration she’s provided. You can find the documentary on YouTube.

You will hear:

• Why Joy felt compelled to tell Ms. Hamer’s story
• Why more people don’t know about Fannie Lou’s part in the Civil Rights movement
• The very real dangers of being a politically active person during this time
• Why it is important to stand up and fight against the propaganda and status quo rather than ignoring it or “being the bigger person”
• And more!

Guest Info:

Joy Elaine Davenport is a multimedia director, editor, and composer who specializes in building layered, emotional narratives from a variety of original and archival sources. She comes to documentary from a background of education and social advocacy, believing that nonfiction film should be actively engaged with restoring historically excluded voices, perspectives, and histories.

Her directorial debut, "Fannie Lou Hamer's America," premiered nationally on PBS in February 2022 and continues to screen around the world. It won the International Documentary Association's award for Best TV Documentary or Mini-Series in December 2022. Davenport also edited the short film "I Snuck Off the Slave Ship," directed by Lonnie Holley & Cyrus Moussavi, which debuted at Sundance Film Festival in January 2019.

Links:

 Joy’s Website: https://www.joyelainedavenport.com/

Joy’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/joydavenport.bsky.social

Full Movie: Fannie Lou Hamer’s America: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h2MzXavgEg

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