Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, more commonly known as Ida B. Wells, was an African-American journalist, newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, feminist Georgist, and an early leader in the Civil Rights Movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoplein 1909...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActivist
Date of Birth16 July 1862
CountryUnited States of America
Ida B. Wells quotes about
dog fighting justice
One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.
running home men
The lesson this teaches and which every Afro-American should ponder well, is that a Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give. When the white man who is always the aggressor knows he runs as great a risk of biting the dust every time his Afro-American victim does, he will have greater respect for Afro-American life. The more the Afro-American yields and cringes and begs, the more he has to do so, the more he is insulted, outraged and lynched.
writing murder commit
Those who commit the murders write the reports.
dog fighting black-history
I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap. I had already determined to sell my life as dearly as possible if attacked. I felt if I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit.
african-american injustice remedy
There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it.
race law punishment
The Afro-American is not a bestial race. If this work can contribute in any way towards proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service. Other considerations are of minor importance.
appetite grows
The appetite grows for what it feeds on.
heart lynching stories
I am only a mouthpiece through which to tell the story of lynching and I have told it so often that I know it by heart. I do not have to embellish; it makes its own way.
home should-have honor
A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home,
party lynching punishment
What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party.
responsibility goal african-american
It is extremely rough to follow through with my goals, but I felt a responsibility to show the world what the African Americans are facing through this rough patch.
race afros fallen
Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.
lynching arms can-do
There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms.
lynching should-have spirit
The alleged menace of universal suffrage having been avoided by the absolute suppression of the negro vote, the spirit of mob murder should have been satisfied and the butchery of negroes should have ceased.