U.S. Census Bureau Black History Month Feature for Feb. 6

WASHINGTON, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily Black History Month feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6: FANNIE LOU HAMER

Profile America for the sixth day of Black History Month. Fannie Lou Hamer, often called "The Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement,"was the youngest of 20 children of a Mississippi Sharecropper, and left school after 6th grade to pick cotton. In 1962, she helped organize a voter registration drive, which resulted in her and her husband being fired and evicted from the farm where they worked. Hamer came to national attention when she made a televised speech at the 1964 Democratic convention, challenging the all-white delegation from Mississippi. The turnout rate among African-Americans in the 2008 presidential election was 65 percent — up about 5 percent from 2004. This special edition of Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, conducting the 2010 Census beginning April 1st.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB10-FF.01

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau