Be forewarned that as the forward says, this is not your typical autobiography. If you’re looking for splash and drama, you’ll be sadly disappointed. This book is more of a chronicle of events of a remarkable woman. Written matter-of-factly, it’s a journey through tumultuous times. It is written as any journalist would, answering the cornerstone questions – who, what, when, where, and how – and she provides a lot of why. The autobiography drives home Wells’ unceasing commitment to getting anti-lynching laws enforced throughout the United States.
Wells, like most of the Black female heroines, was dynamic, powerful, and intentional. Her anti-lynching crusade was not limited to the United States. She took the message abroad to Europe to embarrass the United States on the international stage. However, it had very little impact. In fact, at the time Well’s autobiography was published (1970) there still wasn’t a federal anti-lynching law on the books. Anti-lynching didn’t become a federal hate crime until President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act into law on March 29, 2022, nearly 100 years after Wells’ death. Although the act of lynching is horrific on its face, Wells’ description of burnings, mutilations, and beheadings is in gruesome detail. Lynchings and mutilations were not limited to men. There’s one account of a woman being put in a barrel with nails driven through it on all sides and rolled down a hill to her death. These were full-fledged events including some form of celebration as well.
The autobiography also touches on the resistance from some of her male contemporaries, notably Booker T. Washington and W.E.B Dubois, who she saw as a young and rising leader. If there’s one part of the autobiography that captures Wells’ character, it’s the streetcar incident where she bites the conductor’s hand when he’s trying to remove her from the streetcar.
The book is an amazing account in real time of how some of the Black leaders Ida B. Wells encountered during the lynching era that didn’t have the relentless determination the moment required.
#CrusadeForJustice
#DCVoice
#TheDCVoice
#DCVoiceMedia
#DCVoiceNetwork
#DCVoiceTV
#DCVoiceStudios
#DCVoiceOfficial
#changingthenarrative
#media
#news
#DCVoice
#TheDCVoice
#DCVoiceMedia
#DCVoiceNetwork
#DCVoiceTV
#DCVoiceStudios
#DCVoiceOfficial
#changingthenarrative
#media
#news