Hamer was released on June 12 , 1963 . She needed more than a month to recuperate from the beatings and never fully recovered . Though the incident had profound physical and psychological effects , including a blood clot over her left eye and permanent damage on one of her kidneys , she returned to Mississippi to organize voter registration drives , including the 1963 Freedom Ballot , a mock election , and the " Freedom Summer " initiative the following year . She was known to the volunteers of Freedom Summer as a motherly figure who believed that the civil rights effort should be multi-racial in nature . In addition to her " Northern " guests , Hamer played host to Tuskegee University student activists Sammy Younge Jr. and Wendell Paris . Younge and Paris grew to become profound activists and organizers under Hamer 's tutelage . ( Younge was murdered in 1966 at a Standard Oil gas station in Macon County , Alabama , for using a " whites-only " restroom . ) In 1964 , Hamer helped co-found the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party ( MFDP ) , in an effort to prevent the regional all-white Democratic party 's attempts to stifle African-American voices , and to ensure there was a party for all people that did not stand for any form of exploitation and discrimination ( especially towards minorities ) . Following the founding of the MFDP , Hamer and other activists traveled to the 1964 Democratic National Convention to stand as the official delegation from the state of Mississippi . Hamer 's televised testimony was interrupted because of a scheduled speech that President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered to thirty governors in the East Room of the White House . However , most of the major news networks broadcast her testimony later that evening to the nation , giving Hamer and the MFDP much exposure
1964 Democratic National Convention
1964 Democratic National Convention
Fannie Lou Hamer