We all know that February is Black History Month. So, in honor of the incredible struggles that we as a nation have overcome (and are still battling) for the sake of civil rights and equality, Her Campus UNF is dedicating each Friday of the month to recognizing a Black woman from history.
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It’s our last Friday in the month of February, which means it’s our last Friday of Black history month. However, that doesn’t mean that this is the last time we are celebrating black history. This week we are celebrating Ida B. Wells, a woman who was an activist and also a large participant in women’s suffrage.
Ida B. Wells, also known as Ida B. Wells-Barnette, was born in 1862 in the middle of the civil war. She was the first of seven children to slave parents. Her father was James Wells, who helped start Shaw University, and her mother was Lizzie Wells. After her parents and younger sister passed away due to yellow fever when Wells was 16 years old, she had to drop out of high school and take care of her siblings.
           She moved with her sisters to Memphis, Tennessee in 1882 and continued her education at Fisk University in Nashville.
           After having bought a first class train ticket, Wells was then asked to move to the cart of the train designated for African Americans. Wells was outraged and she sued the train company and at first won a settlement of $500, but then the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the decision. The injustice was what began her journalism days.
           She wrote using the moniker “Lola.” Her articles were published in black newspapers and periodicals. She then became owner of Memphis Free Speech and Highlight and later on, Free Speech. Her articles were about the unjust treatment of African Americans. Among this unjust treatment was lynching.Â
Ida B. Wells established multiple civil rights organizations: National Association of Colored Women and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, to name only a few. She even created the first African American kindergarten in her community. Before she passed away, she also went on to battle for women’s suffrage.
           She passed at age 69 from kidney failure, but her legacy goes on. Her fight against prejudice is remarkable, as she was willing to face many dangers for what was right.
 “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.”-Ida B. Wells
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