Ida B Wells-Barnett

Black American journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. She made headlines for her ferocious resistance to lynching and support of women's suffrage. In Memphis, Tennessee, Wells-Barnett started her career as a teacher before switching to journalism after being terminated for speaking out against the poor circumstances in black schools. As the editor of a neighborhood newspaper, she started writing on the...See more

Black American journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. She made headlines for her ferocious resistance to lynching and support of women's suffrage. In Memphis, Tennessee, Wells-Barnett started her career as a teacher before switching to journalism after being terminated for speaking out against the poor circumstances in black schools. As the editor of a neighborhood newspaper, she started writing on the injustices of lynching, which was then a common occurrence in the South. The lynching problem received widespread attention because to Wells-reportage, Barnett's which also fueled the anti-lynching campaign. She was also a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and played a significant role in the women's suffrage campaign. Even in the face of threats and violence, Wells-Barnett persisted in speaking out against racism and injustice throughout her life. At the age of 68, she passed away in Chicago, Illinois, on March 25, 1931. Wells-Barnett is now regarded as a pioneer and a civil rights movement hero. Social justice campaigners and activists all around the globe are still motivated by her legacy. See less