When I saw Fannie Lou Hamer speech I said, "Well, how did this Democratic Party that Miss Hamer is talking about, become the Democratic Party that now is the party of the African-American community?"
Leah D. DaughtryWhen I used to work for Reverend Jesse Jackson he would say, "You've got to know the rules in order to break the rules." The 1988 campaign of Reverend Jesse Jackson made fundamental changes to the way Democrats do business.
Leah D. DaughtryWhen I looked at [Fannie Lou] Hamer and that speech it seemed to me that she had to be the bravest woman ever, to come before that body and to assert her rights, when she knew that she was going lose that battle. But she did it anyway, because she knew she was speaking not just for herself and for that day, but for me, and for all the other young women who were coming behind her. She didn't know our names, but she was working for us. I find that incredibly empowering.
Leah D. Daughtry