Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells

by Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Ada B. Wells

Book Overview

"She fought a lonely and almost single-handed fight, with the single-mindedness of a crusader, long before men or women of any race entered the arena; and the measure of success she achieved goes far beyond the credit she has been given in the history of the country."--Alfreda M. Duster

Ida B. Wells is an American icon of truth telling. Born to slaves, she was a pioneer of investigative journalism, a crusader against lynching, and a tireless advocate for suffrage, both for women and for African Americans. She co-founded the NAACP, started the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, and was a leader in the early civil rights movement, working alongside W. E. B. Du Bois, Madam C. J. Walker, Mary Church Terrell, Frederick Douglass, and Susan B. Anthony.

This engaging memoir, originally published 1970, relates Wells's private life as a mother as well as her public activities as a teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight for equality and justice. This updated edition includes a new foreword by Eve L. Ewing, new images, and a new afterword by Ida B. Wells's great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 022669142X
• ISBN13: 9780226691428
• Release Date: May 2020
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

VERY GOOD!

One of the best books assigned so far in a history class based on reading about and by important people over time. Hearing and reading from the views of Wells really helps to inform the reader/researcher on where Wells is coming from and how deeply she is involved in her efforts. A really really great read. Only downside might be it can be repetitive at times, but stick through it. It's worth it.

A TIME FOR TRUTH

THIS IS ANOTHER BOOK ABOUT THE INJUSTICE OF THIS HYPOCRITICAL COUNTRY OF GOD FEARING BARBARIANS, WHOSE ANCESTORS PRACTICE GENOCIED OF THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF TURTLE ISLAND AND THE ENSLAVEMENT OF AFRICANS. WHEN THOSE AFRICANS TRIED TO VOTE AND TO EXPERIENCE THE SO CALLED AMERICAN DREAM, WHO THEY WERE VICTIMIZED, AND THIS BRAVE LADY HAD TO CARRY A SHOT GUN TO PROTECT HERSELF FROM THE euro-american TRASH, WHO THREATED HER LIVE AND HER LOVED ONES. IT'S ABOUT TIME THAT THE TRUTH ABOUT america BE KNOWN.

An early voice

I read 'Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells' as part of a class in ethical and prophetic witness for seminary. This was, frankly, not the kind of book I was likely to read apart from a class assignment. But I am very glad to have been given the opportunity -- sometimes things we have to do are in fact good for us!Ida B. Wells was an African-American woman of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. She was born and grew up in the South, born in Mississippi during the Civil War. It is significant the impact of the legacy of slavery on her life -- she recounts how her parents, who were married as slaves, remarried each other as free persons after the war. Wells was a determined and intelligent woman -- her parents died while she was young, yet old enough to be left with the responsibility of her younger brothers and sisters. At the age of 14 she found herself at the head of a household with five younger children.She worked hard to make sure that her education did not suffer, and eventually (a rarity for women of any colour in America at the time) went to work for a newspaper. In an incident that foreshadowed Rosa Parks, she was once removed from a train for sitting in the wrong section, despite her ownership of a valid ticket for the seat. She sued the railroad and won (newspaper headlines read 'Darky Damsel Gets Damages' without concern for the racist tone), but the judgment was overturned on appeal, and she later discovered her lawyers had been paid off by the railroads, and the appellate judges had thought she was just being uppity to pursue the matter.Such was the state of the African-American community that none came to her assistance as she pursued this fight. This made her more determined to organise and fight.Several of her newspaper partners and other friends in Memphis were lynched for these efforts, and Wells was threatened herself, and left the South, but did not give up her crusade. Where ever she went, through cities and towns in the North as well as over to Europe (where, she said, she felt like she was treated as a real human being equal with others for the first time) she decried the injustice of laws which dismissed charges or gave light sentences if victims were coloured, and prosecuted more strongly, gave out harsher sentences, or even resorted to lynch mobs if the defendant (who was often not guilty) was coloured. 'She fought a lonely and almost single-handed fight, with the single-mindedness of a crusader, long before men or women of any race entered the arena, and the measure of success she achieved goes far beyond the credit she has been given the history of the country.'She continued speaking and publishing up to her death in 1931. She was never afraid of making herself unpopular, and often upset the African-American community by being critical of their complacency (especially the upper and middle classes). She became unpopular by standing against the military service during World War I, because o

Redundant read is not important but the life of Wells is

Even though some of the material in this book is redundant, this is an opportunity to read primary source material about the actions and reactions of a woman many of us know little about. Learning about Ida B. Wells in the first person puts you into the times in which she lived. There is no way a biography can give you the same experience. This is a book I would recommend to anyone wanting to understand this period of our history and the personalities--their strengths and limits--that dominated the crusades of those times. I like knowing about Wells' frailties as well as her strengths and the insights that she shared. And I like hearing her viewpoints about other leaders of her time. The three star ratings may say something about the readability of the book, but not about what you gain by staying the course.