Ida B. Wells was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi as a slave in 1862. She was an African-American journalist who documented lynching in the United States. Lynching was a way to punish blacks who competed with whites. She wasn’t just a journalist though, she actually was quite a few things. Ida was a newspaper editor, suffragist, sociologist, and an early leader in the civil rights moment. She established many women’s organization.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_people_wells.html
Lynching is an act of terror that is supposed to spread fear to blacks. Lynching served the broad social purpose of maintaining white supremacy in the economic, social, and political spheres. It was the cruel act of murdering blacks by hanging them in the name of a false white man’s sense of justice. Although, as of late, it seems like everything she fought for just disappeared. In Ferguson right now, riots are going off the charts. As of the writing of this essay, 12 buildings had been burned down to the ground. Wells would not be proud of the state of the country right now, she would definitely join the protests of the injustice of white power over blacks.
