About This Book:
Born into slavery, Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) grew up watching her family fight for Black rights during the Reconstruction Era. After receiving her education, Ida worked as an educator before moving to Memphis where she began writing about white mob violence, investigating lynchings and reporting her findings in local newspapers. Ida helped found the NAACP and was a renowned leader in the civil rights movement, but she was also a young woman desperately trying to hold her family together after tragedy with dignity and resolve.
Ida fought to give voice to the people suffering from injustice, racism, and violence. She spoke out against lynchings internationally and refused to cater to the white women leading the suffrage movement. Throughout her life, she devoted her words and deeds to activism.
*Review Contributed By Rachel Moulden, Stafff Reviewer*
A Powerful Book About A Legendary Woman In History
Ida B. Wells: Journalist, Advocate & Crusader for Justice is a fantastic biograpy for its intended audience to learn about one of history’s journalist and sociologist. The book though comprehensive focuses on her younger years from her childhood to her early career in journalism. The book is fast-paced, full of information about the era she grew up in, and gives readers an insight to Ida a person underneath the headlines.
I found this biography to be fascinating and engaging from start to finish. The book is written like a novel so it feels as if the authors are sharing Ida’s story with us rather than giving us facts non-stop. This element and their combined writing style allows us to connect with Ida on a deeper level and truly see how she overcame her circumstances in order to speak up for others. Her work left such a huge impact on the atrocities she brought to life and readers will admire her courage against the danger of her work.
The novel is short and covers enough of Ida’s backstory to ack as a starting point for learning about her life and motivate readers to learn more about her story. I also appreciate that this book includes some of the text from Ida’s own work to give further context to her career and to also let her speak for herself. This is the second installement of the “Rise. Risk. Remember” series and I’m eager to see which Black woman in history they’ll highlight next. A highly recommended read!
