I believe that in order to run an efficient government and society the efforts of the people of this country should be recognized. It is important that we are heard and decisions aren’t left bias by those elected or chosen to fill official positions. I write to ask that we declare a new national holiday for Ida D Wells, called “Minority Day” that focuses on her and other civil rights leaders’ specific contributions to justice of A.A. at that time. Ida B Wells was an anti-lynching crusader, suffragist, women's rights advocate, journalist, and speaker. Her bravery is an inspiration to minorities around the world who hide the courage to stand up for change. Wells had the courage to write articles condemning the lynching of her friends and the wrongful deaths of other African Americans bringing to attention the unfairness of the government and society at that time. …show more content…
In 1898, Wells brought her anti-lynching campaign to the White House, and lead a protest in Washington, D.C., calling for President William McKinley to make reforms. She hoped for a world where minorities could be treated the same as whites and work together peacefully to improve society. In 1909, she attended a conference for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People but she left the organization and later explained that she felt the organization had lacked action-based initiatives. It was clear that Ida B. Wells stood for what she believed in. “Ida B. Wells died of kidney disease on March 25, 1931, at the age of 68, in Chicago, Illinois. She left behind an impressive legacy of social and political heroism. With her writings, speeches and protests, Wells fought against prejudice, no matter what potential dangers she faced. She once said, "I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” Per
The second important role was Ida B. Wells. She was in Holly Springs, Mississippi in 1862 as a slave. After her parents pasted away from yellow fever, she became a young teacher to keep her siblings together. During her time of teaching, she noticed that white teachers always got paid way higher than she did, it soon brought her interested in politics of races and general education for African Americans. In 1889, after her good friends got lynched by the whites, she soon turned her direction to “lynch” specifically.
Wells-Barnett spoke the truth about lynching and advocated women’s rights. In 1895, Wells published The Red Record to publicize the tragedy of Lynching in the United States. Wells writes about how men are being falsely accused of raping white women. Southern white men believe a white woman would not voluntarily be with a colored man; therefore, such alliance has to be forced. However, Wells shares how on multiple occasions, the truth was known before the time of lynching that the relationship between the two was in fact voluntarily and no charges of any kind should have been applied towards the colored man.
Ida B. Wells with Free Speech and Headlight, as well as her pamphlets Southern Horrors and The Red Record, and now John Mitchell Jr. and the Richmond Planet. Until Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois were there any other prominent publications of
Ida B. Wells continued writing newspaper articles at New York Age, where she exchanged the subscription list of Memphis Free Speech for a part ownership in the paper. She also wrote pamphlets and spoke widely against lynching. In 1893, Wells went to Great Britain, returning again the next year. There, she spoke about lynching in America, found significant support for anti-lynching efforts, and saw the organization of the British Anti-Lynching Society. She believed in the power of the truth to change, over time, the way people lived and who their laws served.
Such a bold move could have resulted in her being lynched just as the victims as her expose’ had been. However, Wells gains credibility by including the opinion of northern whites in her work. There was “an almost divine sentiment among the noblest, purest, and best white women of the North, who felt called to a mission to educated and Christianize the millions of southern ex-slaves” and these women testified that they never had problems with the ex-slaves (Wells 681). While the African American men were being accused of raping white women, the northern women, who spent much time with the African American men, “never complained of assaults and no mob was ever called into existence to avenge crimes against” these women (Wells 681). The mentioned northerners filled in where Wells
Throughout the South, Wells was able to discover that in most cases there was never a violent act towards a white woman and it was simply an excuse for murder. By communicating this message with factual evidence she was able to spread the anti-lynching campaign and raise more attention for the cause. Without her investigations and speeches lynchings could have easily been sweeped under the rug and a cycle of violence could’ve continued across the
Wells was an active leader in the lynching protests and she began an anti-lynching campaign in 1892. (Ida B. Wells Biography) The campaign consisted of articles written by Wells criticizing the extreme deaths of African Americans. She traveled throughout the South to obtain as much information as possible on lynching cases. While doing this, Wells’ life was in danger, she was criticized and threatened by many to where she was no longer able to return home.
Although Zora Neale Hurston received a lot of criticism when she was alive. Her literary works are today still getting recognition that she deserved. She was trying to fight for black culture rights and feminism. She was able to use her writing skills through her time to influence other African American writers. She was always be remembered for the marked she left in
This was to support a society that would make woman equal to men on all accounts. Truth was the voice of what the African American women put their beliefs in. even if they couldn’t join in the working industries, they had a short period of liberation during the war. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of if not the most known idol during this era. She was a passionate abolitionist and was the author of uncle tom’s cabin, which verbally attacked slavery and oppression directly.
The documentary film, Ida B. Wells: A Passion for Justice was produced and directed by William Greaves in 1989. The film chronicles the life and work of Ida B. Wells who was an educator, journalist, activist, and anti-lynching crusader among other things during the late-1800s post-Reconstruction period. The film portrays Wells’ life and career in a chronological order from her childhood to her death as an example of someone who fought for the rights of the oppressed following the promise of the Civil War. Wells was born into slavery in 1862, during the American Civil War and lived throughout the era of Reconstruction. At the age of sixteen years old, Wells’ parents died from yellow fever and ashe decided to leave school and find a teaching
Ida B. Wells is someone made of fiery bravery and courage. Someone who was brave enough to speak out about huge issues when it was dangerous to do so, despite such high stakes. Ida B. Wells has taught me to be extremely brave, and to fight for what’s right no matter how much hate you get for it. Hold your ground and get your point across. I am just so grateful that men and women that fought as hard as Ida B. Wells existed to shape the world we live in
This incident caused Wells to begin her research into lynchings. She concluded that African Americans were lynched "for such social control reasons as failing to pay debts, not appearing to give way to whites, competing with whites economically, and being
People like Ida helped others to steer away from the wrongful thought. She was one of few that tried to stop the cycle and continued to be an activist until her last day. She wouldn’t just stand up for the victims of lynching's, but she would travel and study the whole ambiance. Ida would note documenting everything from details to emotions in what the whites and blacks did. A researcher wrote, "Wells wrote articles decrying the lynching of her friend and the wrongful deaths of other African Americans.
One major reason Ida B. Wells’ argument is so convincing is the way she isolated the problem at hand and stated it clearly. She made sure to bring the problem to light in its true form. Wells’ talks clearly of the true horror that lynching was in the south. Lynching was a horrible problem that was spreading throughout the south of the time. It was all too common and seemed to be an almost everyday occurrence where people were used to lynching taking place.
She noticed something wrong with society, and wrote about it, hoping to improve it. In many ways, she did succeed. There has been a significant decrease in unfair and all white jury trials as of recent years, and there have been more and more and more people who spoke up against the evils of racism. In the article, Don’t Bury Black History’s Horrors, Emmett Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley, refused to have a closed coffin funeral for her son. She stated, “I wanted the world to see what I had seen…