Born in rural Mississippi on Oct. 6, 1917, the great Voting Rights Activist Fannie Lou Hamer helped empower thousands of disenfranchised Black Americans and became a leading voice in the grass roots Civil Rights Movement. A sharecropper on a cotton plantation, in 1963, Hamer was evicted from her home and fired after her boss & landlord heard she tried to register to vote. She was subsequently shot at by unknown terrorists and tortured by police—all for trying to register to vote. It is in honor of this powerful voice of Human and Civil Rights, and of “German Day” (Oct. 6) —a day which celebrates the many contributions of German Immigrants to America, like Hot Dogs, Santa Clause, kindergarten and the Easter Bunny, AND the passing of the great musician Eddie Van Halen—a man whose iconic guitar playing spoke to fans of rock all over the world—that we are dedicating this special episode of Sound Affects to … Language!
