We all know of a famous civil rights leader who made a change in history. To Martin Luther King, to Madam CJ Walker, whom I must say changed the game in slaying black women’s hair, are continuously mentioned as essential people in history. But many other people made massive changes yet are rarely mentioned. One of those includes Ida B wells.
Ida B Wells was an African American woman and a journalist, educator, and early civil rights leader. She was born into slavery during the Civil War, so her days were often spent outside on the farm. After the war, however, her parents became active in politics and stressed to Wells the importance of education.
From there, Wells took her education severe and enrolled in Rust college. However, Wells was the type of woman who spoke her mind no matter the consequences. For example, when Rust College’s president had well-voiced her opinion, this action led her to get expelled. After this incident, things seem to get worse for Wells. A fever epidemic had spread through her town back at home, which sadly took away her parents and brother. With the responsibility of taking care of her other siblings, she decided to take a job as a black education teacher.
Throughout her years of being an educator, Wells spent her time being an activist and speaking about the lynching that was taking place in her community and traveled internationally to spread the message to foreign people. As a black woman, she often was faced with many obstacles when she voiced her opinion. People usually try to stop her or ridiculed the work she was doing for the black community, but she never let this stop her. She even expanded her voice to women issues and became a strong women activist. She was one of the founders of the organization National Association of Colored Women Club to help with matters dealing with civil rights and women’s suffrage.
Wells had a significant impact on society today, even though she usually not credits for her work. For example, she was the first to start an all-black kindergarten school. Wells paved the way for future generations to come and inspired many to voice their opinion regardless of the challenges. Ida.B.Wells is someone I look up to for inspiration, and I will always be grateful for the work she did for black women.