The Prophetess: Ida B. Wells
The Rollercoaster Timeline
Let me paint a picture for you of the ups and downs and backs and forths black people experienced during the 1800s.
In 1861, the Civil War started because Southern States succeeded from the Union to preserve their state right to own slaves.[1] Ugh oh, that’s not good.
In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that said: “all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free.”[2] Ok, that sounds awesome.
Except, it actually didn’t really free anyone. It just declared slaves who live in Union-occupied states free as collateral of the Civil War.[3] Now, that just sounds confusing and not helpful at all.
Finally, in 1865, the Civil War ends and the 13th Amendment was passed, officially abolishing slavery.[4] Ok, now we’re talking.
Even better, after the war, there was a period known as Reconstruction where Union Troops from the North occupied Southern States and kept Southern rebels in line. Former slaves were now able to get an education, run for office, get well-paying jobs, and even start businesses. This is dope.
But, this upward trajectory was brief. In 1877, President Hayes made a deal with the South to pull the remaining Union troops out. This deal resulted in angry Southerners deciding it was time to end all this Black flourishing. And so came Ole Jim Crow, one of the darkest chapters for Black people in the history of this country. More on that in a bit.
The Preparation
These are the eras that produced Ida Bell Wells.
She was born a slave in 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Once the war was over, Ida’s parents took advantage of that Reconstruction “glow-up” by becoming politically active and getting Ida a quality education.[1]
After the Yellow Fever epidemic took both her parents, Ida became a teacher to provide for her remaining siblings. She attended Rust College and later moved to Memphis with her aunt for help caring for her siblings.[1]
The Jim Crow South that followed the Reconstruction left many ex-Confederates and former slave owners bitter, frustrated, and in need of a scapegoat to receive the wrath of their irritation. And with federal troops no longer around to enforce Emancipation laws, Southern states made their own laws and appointed their own enforcement. This violent misplaced frustration led to one of America’s greatest sins—lynching.
Ida knew this terror personally. Three of her friends were lynched by a mob after protecting their business from jealous white grocery store owners. This changed Ida forever. She wrote the lynching of her friends “is what opened her eyes to what lynching really was. An excuse to get rid of Negroes who were acquiring wealth and property and thus keep the race terrorized and keep them down.”[2]
Remember, Ida knew this rollercoaster all too well—success followed by subjugation, the backs and forths.
In response, Ida made it her mission to make sure everyone knew about the injustice of lynching. She wrote pamphlets and newspaper columns, gave lectures, traveled the world. She organized church groups and boycotts. She also challenged racism in the Women’s Suffrage movement while still fighting alongside them. She fought against economic inequality, school segregation, and unfair housing discrimination. If “the least of these” needed a voice, Ida was shouting out for them.
As a result, she became the target of a mob who did not appreciate her writings condemning lynching. This Memphis mob burned down her office in protest of her unflinching truth about the dignity of the Afro-American. But, Ida didn’t let that stop her.
Don’t Start Nothin’, Won’t Be Nothin’
What I love about Ida is that she didn’t wait on others to initiate. She was always starting stuff, in more ways than one. If you read up on her life and highlight the amount of times she was labeled the first or the founder, the text would glow as bright as her legacy.
She started the first black suffrage organization.
She helped to form the NAACP.
She bought shares in and co-partnered the Free Speech and Headlight newspaper.
She even refused to give up her seat on a train 80 years before Rosa Parks famously did the same on a Montgomery bus.[1]
It’s not always easy and rewarding to be first, especially for a black woman. “Uppity, sassy, aggressive, agitator” are just a few names Ida also went “first” in being called. Regardless, if something needed to be challenged, proclaimed, fought, argued, exposed, Ida’s response was always “Bet”.[2]
In her book Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws in All Its Phases, Wells wrote: “It is with no pleasure I have dipped my hands in the corruption here exposed. Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.” Basically, once again, Ida responds with “Bet.”
The Prophetess
Ida B. Wells’s prophetic voice echoes today. Truth-telling was her antiracist work. In this era, the one that we live and breathe in, we need brave truth-telling. The kind that makes sure everyone knows the injustice of black bodies bleeding out on pavements and cries out for those in Flint, MI, still waiting on clean water. We need truth-telling that challenges every sphere of life. The kind that says, “I’m speaking up for the unborn person and the momma who doesn’t have adequate healthcare.” Truth-telling so tethered to the doctrine of the imago Dei that you can’t shut up about the Holy dignity due to each person.
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”[1] To this, we stand with Ida, and we say “Bet!”
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[1]Confederate States of America, “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union,”
[2]United States. President (1861-1865 : Lincoln). The Emancipation Proclamation. Bedford, Mass. :Applewood Books, 1998.
[3]Ibid.
[4]U.S. Constitution. amend. XIII
[5] Wells, Ida B. Crusader for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Bay, Mia. To Tell the Truth Freely: The Life of Ida B. Wells, New York: Hill and Wang, 2010
[8] Norwood, Arlisha. "Ida B. Wells-Barnett." National Women's History Museum. 2017. www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-wells-barnett.
[9] Wells, Ida B. Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases. 1892.
[10] Wells, Ida B. The Light of Truth:Writings of an Anti-Lynching Crusader
– Written By Janetta Oni
Bio: Janetta Oni is a Georgia native now living in Raleigh, NC. She is the wife of Ade and mom of Kennedy, Avery, and Bayo. She has a strong heart for the local church and has been working in that context for 12 years. Janetta currently serves as the Communications Director at The Summit Church and pursuing a Masters in Human Services Counseling with a focus on Christian Ministries from Liberty University. She also owns a lot of plants. A lot. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter (@janettaoni)