New Jersey unveils plaque honoring Fannie Lou Hamer's historic speech at 1964 DNC
ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (CBS) -- Tuesday is day two of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, but 60 years ago the convention was held in Atlantic City.
The year was 1964. Atlantic City hosted the convention at Boardwalk Hall. It's also where civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer gave her landmark speech and challenged the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation.
"This plaque commemorates the fight and it honors those men and women that stood for freedom and those men and women that fought for civil rights," said Tate Reeves, the Governor of Mississippi.
Reeves and New Jersey's Lieutenant Governor, Tahesha Way, helped unveil an official Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker on the boardwalk Tuesday morning, which honors Hamer and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
Hamer's speech in Atlantic City helped shape the future of voting rights in America, and by 1968 Mississippi had its first integrated delegation.
"We cannot heal our nation from centuries of racism and discrimination without making this history visible," Way said.
"It's very important then and it's more important now, today, with this election coming up," said David Dennis, who was one of the organizers of the Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964, which was an attempt to register as many African American voters as possible.
Dennis said the marker represents the struggle Black people faced and symbolizes how far our country has come since Hamer's speech, exactly 60 years before Vice President Kamala Harris is set to accept the Democratic nomination for president.
"To have 60 years later a Black female who's now running for President of the United States, that's extremely significant," Dennis said.
Now, New Jersey is the first and only state outside of Mississippi to host an official Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker.
"I believe this plaque helps us pass along their story to a younger generation that otherwise may have not known everything that was accomplished by those who came before them," Reeves said.
