ection of white state patrolmen. While in their custody she is beaten mercilessly by two black prisoners on the orders of the white police officers who also abuse her: "The second Negro began to beat and I began to work my feet [...] I began to scream and one white man got up and began to beat me in my head and tell me to hush" (Hamer 2).
Hamer also uses appeals to ethos. However, these appeals stem naturally from her experiences. Because she has endured such unmerited and horrific abuse, the audience's empathy and sympathy immediately go out to her. That she can humbly tell her story without anger or accusation lends her a prodigious amount of character. Instead of railing against injustice or those who beat her to near death, Hamer remains calm and merely refers to another martyr of civil rights whose character is also large: "I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered" (2). Hamer also uses allusion in this reference to make her point more clear and appealing to listeners, reminding them that hers is not an isolated case and others have lost even more in seeking only justice.
Simmons argues that logos, pathos, and ethos - also called "artistic proofs" - help "provide resources of communication that are available to the public speaker or persuader" (48). Hamer delivers a speech that is near artistic in its subtle but forceful manner of persuasion. By the end of her speech Hamer will make a reference to the very foundations of American democracy - the
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