Independent Study Step 2 – Ida B. Wells

I will be researching Ida B. Wells and her contributions as a suffragist, journalist, and leader in the civil rights movement for my independent study. I will attempt to explain how the fearless approach used by Wells in her writings and equally displayed through her actions called attention to the unjust treatment of blacks in the southern United States can be seen as a blueprint for black feminism. I will attempt to recognize Wells for her part in opening the doors for women (black women specifically) to vocalize their standpoints in an effort for change, not only for black women but, for the entire race. My study will relate to the racial unjust faced by black people living between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 through the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s. My study will touch on topics related to race, social class, gender, and history. I will need to do further research on works written by Wells in protest of racist practices (i.e. lynching, segregation) as well as gain a deeper knowledge of her contributions to the African American community and women’s suffrage movement.