The skanner., November 26, 2014, Page 12, Image 12

News
Books: ‘Writings of an Anti-Lynching Crusader’
By Kam Williams
Special to
The Skanner News
The Light of Truth:
Writings of an Anti-
Lynching Crusader
by Ida B. Wells
“Ida B. Wells was born a
slave in Holly Springs, Mis-
sissippi in 1862. After
beginning a teaching career
to support her orphaned
siblings, she moved to Mem-
phis
to
become
a
journalist…
In 1883, she was arrested
for refusing to give up her
seat on a train, an experi-
ence that she chronicled in
her first published piece.
Though Wells achieved suc-
cess as a writer, editor and
even co-owner of a newspa-
per,
her
greatest
accomplishments
came
after the lynching of a close
friend in 1892 spurred her
into a lifelong anti-lynching
campaign.
She published powerful
diatribes against lynching,
leading to death threats and
forced exile in the North…
Wells devoted the rest of her
life to civil rights, publish-
ing widely and delivering
impassioned speeches.”
–Excerpted from
Introduction (page i)
the
O
ver 70 years before
Rosa Parks refused
to move to the back
of the bus, Ida Wells was
similarly arrested for refus-
ing to surrender her seat on
a train to a white person.
Wells survived the ordeal
and was eventually inspired
to embark on an impressive
career as an eloquent advo-
cate
on
behalf
of
African-American
civil
rights.
Her specific focus was
lynching. After all, the prac-
Author Mia Bay
tice went unpunished for ever tried, convicted and
over a century during which executed for employing that
not one white person was brand of vigilante justice
against any of the thousands
and thousands of black men,
women and children vic-
tims. Edited by Mia Bay
and Dr. Henry Louis Gates,
Jr., The Light of Truth is a
collection of Ida’s fiery
essays, culled from her
early writings.
In a professional and per-
suasive journalist tone, Ida
recounts case after case in
which a rush to judgment
led to a gross miscarriage of
justice. For example, in
Ida recounts
case after
case in which
a rush to
judgment led
to a gross
miscarriage
of justice
Selma Alabama a “colored
man
named
Daniel
Edwards” was hung from a
tree and riddled with bullets
as a “warning to all Negroes
that are too intimate with
white girls.” Truth be told,
he had secretly dated the
daughter of his employer for
over a year until the scan-
dalous
relationship
produced a biracial child.
Another entry discusses
the details of the 1892
lynching in Quincy, Missis-
sippi
of
five
African-Americans merely
on suspicion of poisoning a
Caucasian, despite their
already
having
been
declared innocent by the
local coroner. In this
instance, Ida chastises white
Christian ministers for fail-
ing to give the matter “more
than a passing comment” in
the pulpit. She goes on to
cite the slayings as “proof of
the moral degradation of the
people of Mississippi.” And
so forth.
A debt of gratitude is
owed Ida Wells for preserv-
ing for posterity a host of
illustrative examples of
racist mobs bent on satiating
their bloodlust by visiting
violence on the bodies of
blacks in vile fashion with-
out any concern about guilt
or innocence.
Page 12 The Portland and Seattle Skanner November 26, 2014