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Local people bore the brunt of economic reprisals for their activism, especially in small towns where boycotting segregated businesses could result in job losses or other economic hardships.The physical and emotional toll of civic activism was immense in the local arena. For example, Fannie Lou Hamer was vital in organizing Mississippi’s Freedom Summer and was known for her saying, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

Image: Fannie Lou Hamer rallying supporters in MS, 1964.

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