Bettie Mae Fikes

American singer

Bettie Mae Fikes (born 1948) also known as The Voice of Selma,[1] is an American singer and civil rights activist.

Fikes singing "This Little Light of Mine" in Selma, Alabama, in 2019.

Life

Born in Selma, Alabama in 1948, she began singing at the age of four.[2] Fikes was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Freedom Singers,[3] and became known as "the Voice of Selma".[4] She was jailed as a teenager in 1963 for her participation in a Selma protest and was also involved in Bloody Sunday in 1965.[5] Her new lyrics for "This Little Light of Mine" and other songs became particularly known.[citation needed] She performed at both the 1964 Democratic National Convention and the 2004 Democratic National Convention.[citation needed] In 2020, she sang at the funeral services for John Lewis, which she indicated might be her final public performance.[6]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Bettie Mae Fikes". SNCC Digital Gateway. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. ^ Hutchinson 1999, p. 143.
  3. ^ Living Blues Publications 2007, p. 44.
  4. ^ "Bettie Mae Fikes". SNCC Digital Gateway. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
  5. ^ "Bettie Mae Fikes". SNCC Digital Gateway. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  6. ^ "John Lewis, Sharecroppers' Son, Is Given A Heroes Sendoff In Alabama". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-07-31.

Bibliography

  • Hutchinson, John (26 August 1999). The Hutchinson Encyclopedia Of Modern Political Biography. Avalon Publishing. ISBN 978-0-8133-3741-8.
  • Living Blues Publications (2007). Living Blues. Vol. 188–193. Living Blues Publications.

External links

  • Official website Edit this at Wikidata
  • Bettie Mae Fikes at IMDb Edit this at Wikidata
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • VIAF
National
  • France
  • BnF data
  • United States
Other
  • SNAC


  • v
  • t
  • e
Flag of United StatesBiography icon

This biographical article about a United States activist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

  • v
  • t
  • e