Michelle Obama's "I'm tired of being afraid" refrain reminds me of Fannie Lou Hamer's now famous comment: "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired".

Fannnie Lou Hamer said these words at the 1964 Democratic convention which was held that year in my hometown of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mrs. Hamer was a spokesperson for a delegation of the newly formed Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP)that came to the convention to challenge the seating of the all-white Mississippi delegation on the grounds that it didn't fairly represent all the people of Mississippi, since most black people hadn't been allowed to vote.

Click http://www.beejae.com/hamer.htm for more information on Fannie Lou Hamer.