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Summary
Summary
Journalist. Suffragist. Antilynching crusader. In 1862, Ida B. Wells was born enslaved in Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 2020, she won a Pulitzer Prize.
Ida B. Wells committed herself to the needs of those who did not have power. In the eyes of the FBI, this made her a "dangerous negro agitator." In the annals of history, it makes her an icon.
Ida B. the Queen tells the awe-inspiring story of an pioneering woman who was often overlooked and underestimated--a woman who refused to exit a train car meant for white passengers; a woman brought to light the horrors of lynching in America; a woman who cofounded the NAACP. Written by Wells's great-granddaughter Michelle Duster, this "warm remembrance of a civil rights icon" ( Kirkus Reviews ) is a unique visual celebration of Wells's life, and of the Black experience.
A century after her death, Wells's genius is being celebrated in popular culture by politicians, through song, public artwork, and landmarks. Like her contemporaries Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, Wells left an indelible mark on history--one that can still be felt today. As America confronts the unfinished business of systemic racism, Ida B. the Queen pays tribute to a transformational leader and reminds us of the power we all hold to smash the status quo.
Author Notes
Michelle Duster is a writer, speaker, professor, and champion of racial and gender equity. She has written, edited, or contributed to sixteen books, two that feature the writing of her great-grandmother Ida B. Wells. She has written articles for Time, Essence, Refinery29, HuffPost, Teen Vogue, and the North Star. Her advocacy has led to street names, monuments, historical markers, and other public history projects that highlight women and African Americans, including Wells.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Duster (co-editor, Michelle Obama's Impact on African American Women and Girls) delivers a vibrant and accessible portrait of her great-grandmother Ida B. Wells (1862--1931). Born into slavery in Mississippi and orphaned at age 16, Wells raised her five siblings with the help of her grandmother and found work as a teacher and newspaper reporter in Memphis, Tenn. After three grocery store owners she knew were killed by a white mob, Wells pioneered aspects of investigative journalism in articles and pamphlets documenting lynchings and other forms of violence against Black people. She eventually settled in Chicago, where she cofounded Illinois's first all-Black suffrage club. (When organizers of a suffrage march in Washington, D.C., asked Black participants to walk in the back of the parade, Wells famously refused to follow orders.) Duster also details Wells's frustrations with the NAACP, which she cofounded in 1909; notes that the FBI maintained files on Wells and other civil rights leaders; and draws parallels between her great-grandmother's "legacy of speaking truth to power" and the Black Lives Matter movement. Enriched by family history, striking illustrations, and deep knowledge of the ongoing fight for racial justice, this is a worthy introduction to Wells's life and legacy. (Jan.)
Kirkus Review
A warm remembrance of a civil rights icon. A great granddaughter of Ida B. Wells (1862-1931), Duster celebrates the life and legacy of the tireless activist, once named "one of the most dangerous Negro agitators" by the FBI. Wells, along with her husband, a lawyer and journalist, spoke out vociferously against injustice, lynching, inequality, and racism both in print (she was a newspaper publisher and editor as well as an investigative journalist) and in speeches throughout the country. She defied death threats and efforts to sully her reputation. When she protested inequality in the school system where she taught, she was fired. When she was ejected from the Whites-only "ladies' car" of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad, she sued the railroad and won only to see her victory overturned by the Tennessee Supreme Court. Wells also helped to found several significant organizations: the first all-Black suffrage club in Illinois, the Negro Fellowship League, and the NAACP. Among her widely read books was The East St. Louis Massacre: The Greatest Outrage of the Century (1917), which chronicled "the horrific slaughter of an entire Black community" and, Duster notes, "outlined oft-overlooked tensions that existed in the American North, where the first waves of the Great Migration tested the Union states' full belief in their cause." Wells boldly confronted presidents, pressing William McKinley to enact a federal anti-lynching law and Woodrow Wilson to support advancement for African Americans. Both efforts failed, but Wells was undaunted. "My great-grandmother's life was not easy," writes the author, but despite frustrations, "she stayed focused on truth-telling. She believed that her voice was important and her story needed to be heard." In a narrative featuring generous photos and illustrations as well as reproductions of historic documents, Duster succinctly traces Wells' legacy in the voices and efforts of many contemporary Black activists who "stand tall and let their voices be heard by those in power." A brisk recounting of Black activism, past and present. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
A founder of the NAACP, Wells was famed as a pioneering journalist and antilynching crusader and for refusing to give up her seat on a ladies' train car in 1884 Memphis. The FBI dubbed her "a dangerous negro agitator," but some balance of justice came in 2020 when she was awarded a 2020 Pulitzer Prize Special Citation. From Wells's great-granddaughter, herself a writer, professor, and advocate for racial and gender equality; with a 125,000-copy first printing.
Table of Contents
| I Who Was Ida B. Wells? | p. 1 |
| Dangerous Negro Agitator | p. 1 |
| II Who Ida Was to Me | p. 8 |
| The Picture on the Living Room Wall | p. 8 |
| The South Side and More | p. 10 |
| A Different Path | p. 12 |
| An Unlikely Connection | p. 13 |
| Carrying the Torch | p. 14 |
| III A Voice for the People | p. 17 |
| She Shall Not Be Moved | p. 17 |
| In Good Company | p. 28 |
| Two Very Different Fights | p. 34 |
| See You in Court | p. 38 |
| The Power of the Press | p. 43 |
| The Birth of an Activist | p. 52 |
| IV How Ida Became Ida | p. 57 |
| Learning Strength and Defiance in Holly Springs | p. 57 |
| An Abrupt End to Childhood | p. 62 |
| V 400 Years of Progress | p. 68 |
| VI A Powerful Legacy | p. 78 |
| Defending and Embracing Our Authentic Selves | p. 78 |
| Speaking Truth to Power | p. 84 |
| Black Lives Matter | p. 88 |
| Working and Protesting Alone | p. 93 |
| Modern Mavericks | p. 94 |
| Organizing Together | p. 100 |
| Taking Control of Our Narrative | p. 109 |
| We Shall Not Be Moved | p. 118 |
| Self-Determination, the Law, and Politics | p. 125 |
| Housing and Support | p. 127 |
| Women Belong in the House and Senate and Every Hall of Power | p. 130 |
| Passing the Torch | p. 133 |
| VII Monumental | p. 136 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 147 |
| Sources | p. 149 |
| Image Credits | p. 162 |
| Index | p. 164 |