What brings me hope

Bringing freedom to others starts with committing to solutions

I had a wonderful hope chat with Dr. Judy Mandrell, founder of Dream Builders Greatness Center, on my latest “Think Hope Podcast” and at the end of the discussion about her vision for the Citywide Prayer Initiative I asked her the question, “What brings you hope?” 

She stated among other things that seeing God turn things around and people’s hearts being changed by the things that we are doing brings her joy unspeakable. 

I thought about how we all can be a part of solutions to some of life’s problems whenever we have the desire to see others’ lives changed and are willing to do our part that is tied to our purpose. That is exactly what we see among the people that we are remembering and celebrating during Black History Month in February. 

People like Fannie Lou Hamer who was born to sharecroppers Lou Ella and James Lee Townsend east of the Mississippi Delta. She started picking cotton at the age of six, but she also completed several years of school and was able to read and write. She married Perry Hamer (Pap) in the 1940’s and suffered from forced sterilization in 1961 when she was given a hysterectomy while in the hospital for minor surgery in Mississippi. 

The sterilization was one of the things that sparked the fire in her to work with the Mississippi Civil Rights movement. However, her leadership role came to fruition when she participated with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1962 as she and 17 neighbors went by bus to Indianola, the county seat, to register to vote. They were prevented from registering and on the way back home the bus was stopped and the driver was arrested.

While held on the bus with the other passengers, Fannie Lou Hamer began to sing “This Little Light of Mine” and “Go Tell It on the Mountain.” She became a valuable civil rights leader from that point on. She became the vice-chair of the Freedom Democratic Party in 1964 and participated in several voting rights and civil rights protests until she died from cancer and heart disease in 1977 at the age of 59. One of Fannie Lou Hamer’s famous quotes, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free” brings me hope. 

To hear my hope chat with Dr. Judy Mandrell please listen to “Think Hope Podcast” at www.blogtalkradio.com/thinkhope, Apple Podcast, Audible, and Amazon Radio.

Rosalind Tompkins, Ph.D. is author of “As Long As There Is Breath In Your Body, There Is Still Hope,” and other inspirational books. Tompkins is also founder of Turning Point International Church, the Chapel of Mothers In Crisis. She’s also founder of Turning Point International Alliance with ministries and churches in Pakistan, Nepal, Eswatini, Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, and St. Vincent in the West Indies.