Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire
  • omnibus

Ida B. Wells -- Still Wielding the Sword For Our People
Bill Quigley
07 Jan 2010

Born in Mississippi in 1862, Ida B. Wells was perhaps the most formidable African American leader of her day. That she is rarely mentioned in the chronology of black leadership that usually runs from Frederick Douglass, to Booker T. Washington to DuBois and Garvey and on into the 20th century is a testament to the ongoing power of patriarchy. But during the wave of lynchings that marked the late nineteenth and early 20th century, when Booker T. was saying “make a brick”, Wells was the only black leader advocating resistance across the board to white supremacy, everything from working with black businesses, to emigration, to armed self defense.

In this address to a conference of black women scholars broadcast on KPFA's Against the Grain last week, historian Paula Giddings outlines the ongoing significance of the life and work of Ida B. Wells.  Click the mic below to download and listen to Paula Giddings on the life and continuing significance of Ida B. Wells.

Paula Giddings has it exactly right when she says that before people learned to oppress others of a different race, they made their practice perfect by oppressing people of a different gender. Wells was a persuasive and outspoken opponent of lynching and of all infringements on the persons and liberties of black people, especially black women. She extensively researched hundreds of lynchings, printed and publicly spoke on her findings, and was run out of Memphis Tennessee as a result. Wells is said to have packed a pistol everywhere she went, and declared that the Winchester rifle ought to have a place of honor in every African American home.

If you grew up in Chicago any time between the 1940s and the 1990s, Ida B. Wells was the name of some projects on East 37th street. But the real Ida B. Wells is worth learning about, and listening to. Giddings is the author of a new book, Ida B. Wells, a Sword Among Lions, which we haven't read yet, but we will. We promise. You probably should too.

And for our money, C.S. Soong, Sasha Lilly and the rest of the Against the Grain crew do some of the finest interviewing anywhere.  We at BAR steal a lot of ideas from them and their interviewees.  Find them at www.againstthegrain.org.

 

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles. Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


More Stories


  • Roberto Sirvent, BAR Book Forum Editor
    BAR Book Forum: Mali Collins’ Book, “Scrap Theory”
    09 Jul 2025
    In this series, we ask acclaimed authors to answer five questions about their book. This week’s featured author is Mali Collins. Collins is Assistant Professor of African American and African…
  • Hanna Eid
    Hell is Empty and the Devils Are All Here: AI and Imperialism in the Current Crisis
    09 Jul 2025
    AI is imperialism's newest weapon, automating genocide in Gaza while building a surveillance state at home.
  • Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration
    Historic Genocide Case Heard in Barbados Supreme Court: Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration Demands Accountability Over Gaza Atrocities
    09 Jul 2025
    Barbados’ Supreme Court is now at the center of a historic genocide case against Israel, as Caribbean activists demand their government sever ties with the apartheid state.
  • Abayomi Azikiwe
    Kenyan Police Attack Youth-led Demonstrations Against Brutality
    09 Jul 2025
    At least 16 killed in protests marking the first anniversary of mass actions against tax hikes and the continuing repression by law enforcement agents.
  • Said Bouamama Blog
    Settler Colonialism in light of F. Fanon: Algeria yesterday, Kanaky today...
    09 Jul 2025
    As settler-colonial violence escalates from Kanaky to Palestine, Fanon’s century-old warnings are critical today—capitalism’s genocidal expansion demands revolutionary violence in return.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us