--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I remember, and I will never forget, one…" description: "\"I remember, and I will never forget, one day - I was six years old and I was playing beside the road and this plantation owner drove up to me and stopp..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_cotton_i-remember-and-i-will-never-forget-one-d_1262811.png" --- # I remember, and I will never forget, one day - I was six… ![“I remember, and I will never forget, one day - I was six years old and I was playing beside the road and this plantation owner drove up to me and stopped and asked me "could I pick some cotton." I told him I didn't know and he said, "Yes, you can. I will give you things that you want from the…” quote by Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_cotton_i-remember-and-i-will-never-forget-one-d_1262811.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_cotton_i-remember-and-i-will-never-forget-one-d_1262811.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_cotton_i-remember-and-i-will-never-forget-one-d_1262811.png) > “I remember, and I will never forget, one day - I was six years old and I was playing beside the road and this plantation owner drove up to me and stopped and asked me "could I pick some cotton." I told him I didn't know and he said, "Yes, you can. I will give you things that you want from the commissary store," and he named a huge list that he called off. I picked the 30 pounds of cotton that week, but I found out what actually happened was he was trapping me into beginning the work I was to keep doing and I never did get out of his debt again.” [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A child is coerced into labor through deceptive promises, leading to lifelong debt servitude. **In simple terms:** A kid was tricked into work and debt. Key Takeaway Beware deceptive offers that bind you. Themes exploitation debt child labor racial injustice Mood sad angry reflective Type historical testimonial social critique When to use this quote - share farming - childhood labor - poverty cycles - legal reform Key Concepts systemic oppression economic coercion psychological manipulation Questions to Reflect On - How do promises become traps? - What safeguards can prevent such exploitation? A Different Perspective The narrative may oversimplify complex historical labor practices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Six year olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/six-year-olds/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) [Yes you can](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/yes-you-can/) ## Related quotes > [ “I will never forget, one day \[when I\] was six years old and I was playing beside the road and this plantation owner drove… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-will-never-forget-one-day-when-i-was-six-years-old-and-i-was/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [My parents would make huge crops of sometimes 55 to 60 bales of cotton. Being from a big family where there were 20 children,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/my-parents-would-make-huge-crops-of-sometimes-55-to-60-bales-of/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I am supposed to be, according to what I am told, one of the children of the cotton plantation owner's sons. If I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eartha-kitt/i-am-supposed-to-be-according-to-what-i-am-told-one-of-the-children/) [Eartha Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eartha-kitt/) > [...funny how people want a return to the good ole days. Of coarse the good ole days of being a rich white plantation owner.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/funny-how-people-want-a-return-to-the-good-ole-days-of-coarse-the/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [That was where my dream began to take hold, of not havin' to pick cotton and potatoes, and not havin' to be uncomfortable, too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-owens/that-was-where-my-dream-began-to-take-hold-of-not-havin-to-pick/) [Buck Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-owens/) > [“You know that because you asked me out, you’re the one who has to pick the place, right?” Throat. Dry. Dry throat. All of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-perkins/you-know-that-because-you-asked-me-out-you-re-the-one-who-has-to-pick/) [Stephanie Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-perkins/) > [If there are tensions between America and China, we will be asked to pick a side. It may not be directly, but you will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lee-hsien-loong/if-there-are-tensions-between-america-and-china-we-will-be-asked-to/) [Lee Hsien Loong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lee-hsien-loong/) > [When asked, -How is that you pick better moves than your opponents?, I responded: I'm very glad you asked me that, because, as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-alekhine/when-asked-how-is-that-you-pick-better-moves-than-your-opponents-i/) [Alexander Alekhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-alekhine/) > [“He asked me if he could pick out my panties every day and I said yes. He asked if I would let him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-blake/he-asked-me-if-he-could-pick-out-my-panties-every-day-and-i-said-yes/) [Joanna Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-blake/) > [The blacks have their parties, hustle a little liquor, get some things together, and I used to play for those peoples. They'd come get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/the-blacks-have-their-parties-hustle-a-little-liquor-get-some-things/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [“I love you," he repeated, shaking her again. "I have for years. And he hurt you and made me watch because he's always know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-j-maas/i-love-you-he-repeated-shaking-her-again-i-have-for-years-and-he-hurt/) [Sarah J. Maas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-j-maas/) > [I'd have to pick cotton for a year to make what I'd make in a week in L.A.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-campbell/i-d-have-to-pick-cotton-for-a-year-to-make-what-i-d-make-in-a-week-in/) [Glen Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-campbell/) > [Do you want to come climb the transformationa l leadership mountain with me? Your first step begins with DESIRE. Do you want to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/do-you-want-to-come-climb-the-transformationa-l-leadership-mountain/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [And will you succeed? Yes, you will indeed!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/and-will-you-succeed-yes-you-will-indeed/) [Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/) > [We're focused on providing innovations in software, driving the continuous improvement for a much better experience, and there's a lot going on here that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/we-re-focused-on-providing-innovations-in-software-driving-the/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) ## More by Fannie Lou Hamer > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [You know what really made me sick? I was in Washington, D.C. at another time reading in a paper where the U.S. gives Byron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/you-know-what-really-made-me-sick-i-was-in-washington-d-c-at-another/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [It was the 31st of August in 1962 that eighteen of us traveled twenty-six miles to the county courthouse in Indianola to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/it-was-the-31st-of-august-in-1962-that-eighteen-of-us-traveled-twenty/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-am-sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [ I met one child there eleven years old, speaking three languages \[in Guinea\]. He could speak English, French and Malinke. Speaking my language actually… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-met-one-child-there-eleven-years-old-speaking-three-languages-in/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [ ... some of my people could have been left \[in Africa\] and are living there. And I can't understand them and they don't know… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/some-of-my-people-could-have-been-left-in-africa-and-are-living-there/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I saw in Chicago, on the street where I was visiting my sister-in-law, this "Urban Renewal" and it means one thing: "Negro removal." But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-saw-in-chicago-on-the-street-where-i-was-visiting-my-sister-in-law/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [We didnt come all this way for no two seats when all of us is tired,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-didnt-come-all-this-way-for-no-two-seats-when-all-of-us-is-tired/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [The Mississippi is not the only river. There's the Tallahatchie and the Big Black. People have been put in the river year after year,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/the-mississippi-is-not-the-only-river-there-s-the-tallahatchie-and/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered and nothing, I mean nothing has been done about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-was-in-jail-when-medgar-evers-was-murdered-and-nothing-i-mean/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [“Whether you have a Ph. D. or no D. we're in this bag together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/whether-you-have-a-ph-d-or-no-d-we-re-in-this-bag-together/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [What I really feel is necessary is that the black people in this country wil have to upset this apple cart. We can no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/what-i-really-feel-is-necessary-is-that-the-black-people-in-this/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [One day I know the struggle will change. There's got to be a change-not only for Mississippi, not only for the people in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/one-day-i-know-the-struggle-will-change-there-s-got-to-be-a-change/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [A black woman's body was never hers alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/a-black-woman-s-body-was-never-hers-alone/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [With the people, for the people, by the people. I crack up when I hear it; I say, with the handful, for the handful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/with-the-people-for-the-people-by-the-people-i-crack-up-when-i-hear/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) [Explore all 118 Fannie Lou Hamer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) ## More Cotton quotes > [My problems are sort of more on a nuisance level. I can't stand scratchy clothes, I've got to have soft kinds of cotton against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/temple-grandin/my-problems-are-sort-of-more-on-a-nuisance-level-i-can-t-stand/) [Temple Grandin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/temple-grandin/) > [ Senator \[Tom\] Cotton has campaigned on wanting to kill Obamacare. He voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act back in January, but he now… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/senator-tom-cotton-has-campaigned-on-wanting-to-kill-obamacare-he/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [Summer time an' the livin' is easy, Fish are jumpin' an' the cotton is high. Oh, yo' daddy's rich, and yo' ma' is good-lookin',…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ira-gershwin/summer-time-an-the-livin-is-easy-fish-are-jumpin-an-the-cotton-is/) [Ira Gershwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ira-gershwin/) > [ \[Tom Cotton\] has been an absolute champion of the idea of getting rid of Obamacare, scrapping the Affordable Care Act. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/tom-cotton-has-been-an-absolute-champion-of-the-idea-of-getting-rid/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it. The foundation of society is laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-visited-sweatshops-factories-and-crowded-slums-if-i-could-not/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [It will be hard James but you come from sturdy peasant stock men who picked cotton and dammed rivers and built railroads and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-will-be-hard-james-but-you-come-from-sturdy-peasant-stock-men-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The peace we seek, founded upon decent trust and cooperation among nations, can be fortified not by weapons of war but by wheat and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-peace-we-seek-founded-upon-decent-trust-and-cooperation-among/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“I feel like cotton candy: sugar and air. Squeeze me and I’d turn into a small sickly damp wad of weeping pinky-red. “I”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/i-feel-like-cotton-candy-sugar-and-air-squeeze-me-and-i-d-turn-into-a/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [We are constituted a good deal like chickens, which, taken from the hen, and put in a basket of cotton in the chimney-corner, willoften…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/we-are-constituted-a-good-deal-like-chickens-which-taken-from-the-hen/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I was influenced a lot by those around me - there was a lot of singing that went on in the cotton fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-nelson/i-was-influenced-a-lot-by-those-around-me-there-was-a-lot-of-singing/) [Willie Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-nelson/) > [Thank God I have the seeing eye, that is to say, as I lie in bed I can walk step by step on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beatrix-potter/thank-god-i-have-the-seeing-eye-that-is-to-say-as-i-lie-in-bed-i-can/) [Beatrix Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beatrix-potter/) > [We picked their cotton. We cooked their food. We nursed their babies. Now we can run their cities. We can run their states. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-jackson/we-picked-their-cotton-we-cooked-their-food-we-nursed-their-babies/) [Jesse Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-jackson/) > [I think 20 years of experience really came to fruition and enabled me to be able to play Cotton Marcus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-fabian/i-think-20-years-of-experience-really-came-to-fruition-and-enabled-me/) [Patrick Fabian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-fabian/) > [At the age of five years to enter a spinning-cotton or other factory, and from that time forth to sit there daily, first ten,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/at-the-age-of-five-years-to-enter-a-spinning-cotton-or-other-factory/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) Browse all 329 Cotton quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I remember, and I will never forget, one day - I was six years old and I was playing beside the road and this plantation owner drove up to me and stopped and asked me \"could I pick some cotton.\" I told him I didn't know and he said, \"Yes, you can. I will give you things that you want from the commissary store,\" and he named a huge list that he called off. 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