At a time when 80 percent of the black population in the United States was illiterate, Ida B. Wells grew up to become a journalist. It’s not like Journalism was an open profession to any women, much less a Black woman. But that didn’t stop her from fighting racism with her words and bravery. If you were Ida B. Wells, in today’s world, what tools/platforms would you use to spread your message today & Why?

It’s hard for me to imagine the bravery of someone like Ida B. Wells. In a world where government and business decision makers are so focused on keeping their job that they will cast votes against their constituents welfare, learning about someone willing to vigorously speak up based on their moral compass just doesn’t seem “real.” It would be interesting to imagine if she were a contemporary voice what tools or which platforms she would use to speak out against racial injustice and inequality. My guess is that she would have seen the writing on the wall and left Twitter last year. Or maybe that’s part of our current dilemma that there are so many platforms and tools it dilutes the message and makes the protest virtually silent and unheard by the multitudes. In her day all there was was newspapers and eventually radio which were all, at best, regional and not national or international means of communication. Her voice wouldn’t be drowned out by the millions of voices, like today, but her reach was limited by the means of its propagation. So, she could be heard by millions almost instantaneously today, but she would have to find a way to be heard above the noise. 

I have heard of Ida B. Wells before, but the fact that she isn’t better well known might be evidence of our country’s unwillingness to acknowledge her cause, even after all these years. Ugh. 

Source: Untold History, Ida B. Wells: Journalist and Anti-Lynching Activits, https://youtu.be/1dG82gBv684