By Theresa El-Amin
Black Liberation Caucus Committee, WILPF

February 2022    

The Fannie Lou Hamer Branch in Columbus, Georgia, started with 8 (eight) gift memberships from the Southern Anti-Racism Network. Roy Bourgeois, Founder of SOA Watch, joined at the invitation of Fannie Lou Hamer Branch Organizer, Theresa El-Amin. Theresa has been a WILPF member for many years.

In 2021, the Fannie Lou Hamer Branch organized a motorcade and press conference to support the passage of the John Lewis Voter Advancement Act. The Fannie Lou Hamer branch is committed to protecting voting rights in Georgia.

The first annual Fannie Lou Hamer Branch Human Rights Conference, sponsored by the Southern Anti-Racism Network, was held on December 11, 2021. Ninety people joined during the conference via Zoom, with at least 65 people participating in breakout sessions on the topics Ending Mass Incarceration/Abolishing the Death Penalty; Immigration Justice; the UN International Decade for People of African Descent/Reparations; and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

The second Annual Fannie Lou Hamer Branch Human Rights Conference is planned for December 10, 2022, at the Sonesta Atlanta Airport Hotel North as an in-person conference. The Southern Anti-Racism Network is the fiscal sponsor for the conference and will be applying for a $50,000 grant from the Equity Rises Fund at Ploughshares.  Concept note due on February 15.
 
Theresa El-Amin, Fannie Lou Hamer Branch organizer, feels so good about the work ahead that she took out a $5,000 life insurance policy with Fannie Lou Hamer Branch steering committee member Danita Gibson Lloyd, a Farmers Insurance agent. Theresa is 73. At her age, the $5,000 policy is $60 a month. Thus, Theresa is donating $720 a year to support a bequest of $5,000 to WILPF-US. 

Forward Together! Not One Step Back!