The Red Record - Wells-Barnett, Ida B.

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Résumé :
In the post-civil war American south, the despicable act of lynching was commonplace and considered to be a form of vigilantism that was used to murder African Americans for alleged crimes ranging from acting suspiciously to insulting whites. In The Red Record, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett records statistics concerning instances of lynching and offers vivid descriptions of the extrajudicial killings in an attempt to galvanise the public into action and put an end to such horrifying practices. Ida Bell Wells-Barnett (1862-1931) was an American educator, investigative journalist, and leading figure of the civil rights movement. Having been born into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, Wells was freed in 1862 during the American Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation. From then on she dedicated her life as a free woman to fighting prejudice and violence, founding the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and becoming the most famous African American of her time. Contents include: The Case Stated, Lynch-Law Statistics, Lynching Imbeciles (An Arkansas Butchery), Lynching of Innocent Men (Lynched on Account of Relationship), Lynched for Anything or Nothing (Lynched for Wife Beating), History of Some Cases of Rape, The Crusade Justified (Appeal from America to the World), Miss Willard's Attitude, Lynching Record for 1894, and The Remedy. Other notable works by this author include: Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All its Phases (1892) and Mob Rule in New Orleans (1900). Read & Co. History is proudly republishing this classic work now in a brand new edition complete with introductory chapters by Irvine Garland Penn and T. Thomas Fortune....

Biographie:
Black American journalist, suffragist, and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. She made headlines for her ferocious resistance to lynching and support of women's suffrage. In Memphis, Tennessee, Wells-Barnett started her career as a teacher before switching to journalism after being terminated for speaking out against the poor circumstances in black schools. As the editor of a neighborhood newspaper, she started writing on the injustices of lynching, which was then a common occurrence in the South. The lynching problem received widespread attention because to Wells-reportage, Barnett's which also fueled the anti-lynching campaign. She was also a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and played a significant role in the women's suffrage campaign. Even in the face of threats and violence, Wells-Barnett persisted in speaking out against racism and injustice throughout her life. At the age of 68, she passed away in Chicago, Illinois, on March 25, 1931. Wells-Barnett is now regarded as a pioneer and a civil rights movement hero. Social justice campaigners and activists all around the globe are still motivated by her legacy.