On August 31, 1962, Hamer and 17 others attempted to vote but failed a literacy test, which meant she was denied this right. She was fired by her boss, but her husband was required to stay on the land until the end of the harvest. In 1961, when she was 44 years old, Fannie Lou Hamer went to the hospital for the removal of a small uterine tumor, which is now thought to have been a fibroid. While she was under anesthesia, she was given a hysterectomy without her knowledge or consent. https://rsphealth.org/blog/2021/06/22/remembering-fannie-lou-hamer/

In 1964, Hamer helped in organizing the movement for “Freedom Summer African American voter registration” in her hometown in Mississippi. Its goal is to grant African-American equal economic opportunities. The following year, she joined the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, an organization of activists opposing Mississippi’s all-white delegation. It challenges the constitutionality of all-white participation in the political scene. https://www.lottie.com/blogs/strong-women/fannie-lou-hamer