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Terrien Edwards
Staff Writer
The late Ida B. Wells was an influential journalist, civil rights leader, and suffragist who fought against the injustices faced by African-Americans in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Through her writing, research, and activism, she was successful in bringing awareness to issues such as lynching and segregation. Wells’ bravery and courage led her to become one of the most respected civil rights activists of her time. She was not afraid to call out the injustices of her time, even though her safety was repeatedly threatened.
Born into slavery in Holly Springs, Miss. in 1862, she was freed by the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Wells was orphaned at the age of 16. She attended Rust College and became a teacher, but when a mob burned a close friend’s newspaper office, she began to write articles in support of the African-American community.
Growing up being constantly surrounded by legal, social and racial barriers, Wells quickly made up her mind to become a prominent civil rights leader and journalist, who would be unafraid to speak out against discrimination and corruption. This decision came from her experience in Memphis after being thrown off a train for refusing to leave the first-class car.
Wells wrote articles for The Living Way, a church paper, before becoming co-owner of the Memphis Free Speech & Headlight. There she wrote scathing accounts of the horrors of lynching because she witnessed one of her dear friends being lynched. Since her writings were very graphic and deemed dangerous, she was fired from her job. Other ways she pursued justice against lynching was by taking her case to court.
Wells co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909 and continued her activism until her death in 1931. Her pioneering crusade spanned continents, as she traveled extensively to Europe, including Britain, to bring the horrors of the lynching epidemic to the attention of a broader audience. Her work served as a powerful example of how ordinary people can make extraordinary change, and is an inspiring reminder of the potential of individuals to fight against injustice.
“As a journalism major, Ida B. Wells is a very important figure that is consistently talked about. My professors have always brought up how Wells altered the way the stories are now being written. In early history writers were scared to write about anything that was considered graphic and sugar-coat the truth, but now the media is more open to the truth graphic or not,” stated Donavon Jones, a junior journalism and media Studies major from Jackson, Miss.
Factual information in this spotlight was gathered from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ida-B-Wells-Barnett
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