Ida B. Wells was born in Mississippi in 1862, to slave parents but luckily the Emancipation Proclamation was in place before she was one year old. She had to drop out of school when she was 16 to take care of her family, after her parents and one of her siblings had died of Yellow Fever. She became a teacher to support her family but soon became interested in journalism. She later was a co-owner of The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight, a black newspaper. She also had formed the National Association of Colored Women and was also a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
In 1889, Thomas Moss had opened a grocery store, The People's Grocery. In 1892, Thomas and two of his workers were sought out by a white mob and lynched. These men were targeted because their grocery store had challenged a white supermarket. Thomas Moss was a friend of Ida B. Wells.
Wells took lynching personally now more than ever, and was going to do anything she could to educate the public. She made sure that the focus wasn't only on men by explaining that women were victims to mob cruelty just like men.
Below is a quote from an editorial she published which led to an uproar, and resulted in the destroying of the printing press in the offices of The Free Speech. Afterwards she was told that if she ever returned to Memphis she would be killed as well, so from then on she remained mostly in the North.
"The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival. There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms. The white mob could help itself to ammunition without pay, but the order is rigidly enforced against the selling of guns to Negroes. There is therefore only one thing left to do; save our money and leave a town which will neither protect our lives and property, nor give us a fair trial in the courts, but takes us out and murders us in cold blood when accused by white persons."
The Memphis Free Speech
In 1889, Thomas Moss had opened a grocery store, The People's Grocery. In 1892, Thomas and two of his workers were sought out by a white mob and lynched. These men were targeted because their grocery store had challenged a white supermarket. Thomas Moss was a friend of Ida B. Wells.
Wells took lynching personally now more than ever, and was going to do anything she could to educate the public. She made sure that the focus wasn't only on men by explaining that women were victims to mob cruelty just like men.
Below is a quote from an editorial she published which led to an uproar, and resulted in the destroying of the printing press in the offices of The Free Speech. Afterwards she was told that if she ever returned to Memphis she would be killed as well, so from then on she remained mostly in the North.
"The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival. There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms. The white mob could help itself to ammunition without pay, but the order is rigidly enforced against the selling of guns to Negroes. There is therefore only one thing left to do; save our money and leave a town which will neither protect our lives and property, nor give us a fair trial in the courts, but takes us out and murders us in cold blood when accused by white persons."
The Memphis Free Speech
In 1898, Ida had challenged President William Mckinley to make reforms by leading a protest infant of the White House. (Above)
After the lynching of her friends, Wells called on the black community to strike back by boycotting the white businesses. These businesses suffered because of her. She also began investigating lynchings. In one instance she realized that 8 african-american men had been lynched within a month. She said they had been falsely accused or the details had been exaggerated. She discovered that regardless of your economic, political, or social status, all blacks were vulnerable when it came to lynchings. After success of a black newspaper article she wrote, regarding her lynching investigations, she gave anti-lynching speeches in the Northeast and Europe.