Ida B
Ida B. WellsThe Success of Ida B. Wells
"One had better die fighting against injustice than die like
a dog or a rat in a trap."
- Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was an important figure in Black American
History. She was born a slave in Mississippi in 1862.
Wells was able to gain an education and, later, became a
journalist for various Negro papers. Through her writing,
she was able to attack issues dealing with discrimination
against African-American people. Ida B. Wells became an
international activist for African-American rights when she
informed the English people about lynching in America. She
became a well-known lecturer, activist, and organizer in
American and in England. Wells established the Negro
Fellowship League, the Ida B. Wells Women�s Club, the
National Association of Colored Women and was extremely
involved in other organizations for African-American
advancement.
There were a few advantageous elements that helped
Wells� success in her activist efforts. One being that
gender relations, of that time, were honorable within the
African-American community. Another advantage for Ida B.
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Wells was her biological sex. Ida B. Wells fought hard in
her effort to secure America as a safe environment for
Blacks, but she managed to accomplish a remarkable amount of
her efforts due to various gender and sex related assets
which were in her favor.
One advantage Ida B. Wells was fortunate to claim was
that gender relations in the Black community were very
favorable. Due to the strenuous labor male and female
African-Americans had to endure during slavery, neither sex
proclaimed its opposite inferior and, therefore, Ida B.
Wells was able to make huge leaps within the
African-American community. For instance, Wells was able to
become an outstanding journalist, become editor and co-owner
of a Black newspaper, and Black men did not object to her
leadership in these occupations. Black men respected and
honored her work in the advancement of African-Americans,
instead of envying a woman for accomplishing these essential
tasks before a male exhibited her achievements. Black men,
unlike Whites of the time, were able to see...
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