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Ida: A Sword Among Lions
Heralded as a landmark achievement upon publication, Ida: A Sword Among Lions is a sweeping narrative about a country and a crusader embroiled in the struggle against lynching—a practice that imperiled not only the lives of black men and women, but also a nation based on law and riven by race.
At the center of the national drama is Ida B. Wells (1862-1931). Born to slaves in Mississippi, Wells began her activist career by refusing to leave a first-class ladies' car on a Memphis railway and rose to lead the nation's first campaign against lynching. For Wells, the key to the rise in violence was embedded in attitudes not only about black men, but also about women and sexuality. Her independent perspective and percussive personality gained her encomiums as a hero—as well as aspersions on her character and threats of death. Exiled from the South by 1892, Wells subsequently took her campaign across the country and throughout the British Isles before she married and settled in Chicago. There she continued her activism as a journalist, suffragist, and independent candidate in the rough-and-tumble world of the Windy City's politics.
With meticulous research and vivid rendering of her subject, Giddings also provides compelling portraits of twentieth-century progressive luminaries, blacks and whites who worked with Wells during some of the most tumultuous periods in American history. In this groundbreaking work, Paula J. Giddings brings to life the irrepressible personality of Ida B. Wells and gives the visionary reformer her due.
At the center of the national drama is Ida B. Wells (1862-1931). Born to slaves in Mississippi, Wells began her activist career by refusing to leave a first-class ladies' car on a Memphis railway and rose to lead the nation's first campaign against lynching. For Wells, the key to the rise in violence was embedded in attitudes not only about black men, but also about women and sexuality. Her independent perspective and percussive personality gained her encomiums as a hero—as well as aspersions on her character and threats of death. Exiled from the South by 1892, Wells subsequently took her campaign across the country and throughout the British Isles before she married and settled in Chicago. There she continued her activism as a journalist, suffragist, and independent candidate in the rough-and-tumble world of the Windy City's politics.
With meticulous research and vivid rendering of her subject, Giddings also provides compelling portraits of twentieth-century progressive luminaries, blacks and whites who worked with Wells during some of the most tumultuous periods in American history. In this groundbreaking work, Paula J. Giddings brings to life the irrepressible personality of Ida B. Wells and gives the visionary reformer her due.
800 pages, Paperback
First published March 11, 2008
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About the author
Paula J. Giddings
6 books87 followersPaula Giddings (born 1947 in Yonkers, New York) is a writer and an African-American historian. She is the author of When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America and In Search of Sisterhood. She is a professor of African-American Studies at Smith College and has previously taught at Spelman College, where she was a United Negro Fund Distinguished Scholar and Douglass College at Rutgers University where she held the Laurie Chair in Women's Studies. Giddings has also taught at Princeton University, North Carolina Central University and Duke University. She is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
Giddings grew up in an integrated neighborhood of Yonkers, New York, where she suffered from day-to-day discrimination. Later, she participated in Freedom rides where she first experienced political commitment. In 1975, she travelled to South Africa where she had the opportunity to meet leaders of the Anti-apartheid movement.
(from Wikipedia)
Giddings grew up in an integrated neighborhood of Yonkers, New York, where she suffered from day-to-day discrimination. Later, she participated in Freedom rides where she first experienced political commitment. In 1975, she travelled to South Africa where she had the opportunity to meet leaders of the Anti-apartheid movement.
(from Wikipedia)
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December 15, 2017
When I think of American heroes, people who made a true difference in the civic life of this country and who stood, often at great personal cost, for ideals like freedom, equality, and democracy, I put Ida B. Wells-Barnett at the top of my list.
Before reading Paula Giddings' extensively researched and detailed biography of Wells-Barnett, I already knew about her work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries documenting lynchings of African-American men, women, and children. She used her skills as a reporter to travel to towns where lynchings took place, interview bereft families and victimized community members, and write up the truth behind these ugly, brutal instances of mob rule, often facing considerable threats and criticism for her efforts. She directly opposed the often-cited and appalling justification of lynchings as a means to avenge white women from rapes by black men, revealing the racism and lies behind this excuse. In a time when political clubs were a vital (and complicated) means of political and civic organization, Wells-Barnett understood that passing resolutions wasn't enough -- direct action was needed to inspire and motivate people to apply pressure on politicians and legislators to stand up for democratic beliefs, particularly safeguarding our constitutional right for a fair trial.
I was not as aware of Wells-Barnett's inspiring work to reshape Chicago politics, bringing home the power of the black vote, especially after women gained the right to vote. She faced down ward bosses and career politicians, always voicing her opinion, even (sometimes especially) when it was at odds with accepted etiquette. Empty words meant nothing to her.
Wells-Barnett paid a price for her outspokenness and energy. She fought for recognition and support from race leaders of her day (Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois) who sometimes bristled at her independence or disagreed with her unwillingness to accommodate those in power. As for many people, her strengths were also her weaknesses. Without her energy, impatience, and fearless disregard for polite conventions, she would never have been as tirelessly active and effective as she was. At the same time, she infuriated many people who were shocked by her refusal to play politics. As a result, she was not recognized officially with all the leadership positions and public recognition that were her due. In spite of these slights, Wells-Barnett was a force to be reckoned with. She filled lecture halls in the US and England, and her actions on behalf of impoverished black defendants to ensure they would get fair trials brought her to the attention not only of newspaper editors, but also of federal officials who feared she would foment sedition against the US government. (These officials refused her request to travel to France as part of a delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.)
The biography itself does not focus much on Wells-Barnett's personal life, probably because her personal life was subsumed by her public life. Her husband, Ferdinand Barnett, shared her political views and supported her public life -- with the disappointing understanding that some times his career as a lawyer and politician needed to come first. (Later in their lives, Barnett represented many indigent black defendants whose cases Wells-Barnett publicized and whose rights she advocated for.) Wells-Barnett was a trailblazer in her continuing to focus on her public role even after marrying and having children. (In a memorable scene, Susan B. Anthony, a friend and comrade of Wells-Barnett, voiced concerns that she was distracted from her important causes by her marriage and children.) She even brought her nursing infants with her on some political trips.
Giddings' biography of Wells-Barnett is as much a political history of the period as a traditional biography. This was a time of great domestic conflict in the US. Giddings provides a detailed look into the complex alliances and battles of black and white politicians, editors, and activists from Reconstruction to the Jim Crow era, from fights for women's suffrage to women's gaining the right to vote, from the black migration from the South to the North to the race riots and lynchings that revealed the ugly face of racism in the US. Giddings provides exhaustive detail of the political battles and alliances that threaded through these decades -- perhaps too exhaustive for some readers. (There are many names and acronyms to keep track of.) The details that Giddings provides of lynchings are horrifying and sickening to read -- but also feel necessary, given the current state of the US, with white supremacist groups marching out of the shadows. And Wells-Barnett herself is a necessary figure for these troubled times. Reading her story reinforces US citizens' obligation to fight for ideals of equality and freedom, especially in the face of powerful, corrupt interests running roughshod over the Constitution. She reminds us that words are empty unless coupled with direct action. And she reminds us of the centrality of commitment to community.
Before reading Paula Giddings' extensively researched and detailed biography of Wells-Barnett, I already knew about her work in the late 19th and early 20th centuries documenting lynchings of African-American men, women, and children. She used her skills as a reporter to travel to towns where lynchings took place, interview bereft families and victimized community members, and write up the truth behind these ugly, brutal instances of mob rule, often facing considerable threats and criticism for her efforts. She directly opposed the often-cited and appalling justification of lynchings as a means to avenge white women from rapes by black men, revealing the racism and lies behind this excuse. In a time when political clubs were a vital (and complicated) means of political and civic organization, Wells-Barnett understood that passing resolutions wasn't enough -- direct action was needed to inspire and motivate people to apply pressure on politicians and legislators to stand up for democratic beliefs, particularly safeguarding our constitutional right for a fair trial.
I was not as aware of Wells-Barnett's inspiring work to reshape Chicago politics, bringing home the power of the black vote, especially after women gained the right to vote. She faced down ward bosses and career politicians, always voicing her opinion, even (sometimes especially) when it was at odds with accepted etiquette. Empty words meant nothing to her.
Wells-Barnett paid a price for her outspokenness and energy. She fought for recognition and support from race leaders of her day (Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois) who sometimes bristled at her independence or disagreed with her unwillingness to accommodate those in power. As for many people, her strengths were also her weaknesses. Without her energy, impatience, and fearless disregard for polite conventions, she would never have been as tirelessly active and effective as she was. At the same time, she infuriated many people who were shocked by her refusal to play politics. As a result, she was not recognized officially with all the leadership positions and public recognition that were her due. In spite of these slights, Wells-Barnett was a force to be reckoned with. She filled lecture halls in the US and England, and her actions on behalf of impoverished black defendants to ensure they would get fair trials brought her to the attention not only of newspaper editors, but also of federal officials who feared she would foment sedition against the US government. (These officials refused her request to travel to France as part of a delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.)
The biography itself does not focus much on Wells-Barnett's personal life, probably because her personal life was subsumed by her public life. Her husband, Ferdinand Barnett, shared her political views and supported her public life -- with the disappointing understanding that some times his career as a lawyer and politician needed to come first. (Later in their lives, Barnett represented many indigent black defendants whose cases Wells-Barnett publicized and whose rights she advocated for.) Wells-Barnett was a trailblazer in her continuing to focus on her public role even after marrying and having children. (In a memorable scene, Susan B. Anthony, a friend and comrade of Wells-Barnett, voiced concerns that she was distracted from her important causes by her marriage and children.) She even brought her nursing infants with her on some political trips.
Giddings' biography of Wells-Barnett is as much a political history of the period as a traditional biography. This was a time of great domestic conflict in the US. Giddings provides a detailed look into the complex alliances and battles of black and white politicians, editors, and activists from Reconstruction to the Jim Crow era, from fights for women's suffrage to women's gaining the right to vote, from the black migration from the South to the North to the race riots and lynchings that revealed the ugly face of racism in the US. Giddings provides exhaustive detail of the political battles and alliances that threaded through these decades -- perhaps too exhaustive for some readers. (There are many names and acronyms to keep track of.) The details that Giddings provides of lynchings are horrifying and sickening to read -- but also feel necessary, given the current state of the US, with white supremacist groups marching out of the shadows. And Wells-Barnett herself is a necessary figure for these troubled times. Reading her story reinforces US citizens' obligation to fight for ideals of equality and freedom, especially in the face of powerful, corrupt interests running roughshod over the Constitution. She reminds us that words are empty unless coupled with direct action. And she reminds us of the centrality of commitment to community.
November 6, 2024
"The Negro cannot understand why it was a brave thing to kill the Germans and not equally brave to kill white Huns in his own country, who take his life, destroy his home, and insult his manhood every step of the way in free America."
Ida B Wells is probably one of the most important people in history that you've never heard of. Ida was a feminist, journalist, and anti lynching activist. She not only had to fight the racism of white people but also the white supremacy in the Black Civil Rights movement. Ida was campaigning for social reform before women and most Black men could even legally vote. She was considered one of the most dangerous people in America. As a known "race agitator," she was run out of her hometown Memphis.
Despite the horrible racism of white people most often her biggest foes were Black people and organizations like NAACP, Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubois. Ida didn't believe in sucking up to white people in power. She also didn't believe in putting down poor or working class. During this first Civil Rights movement many Black leaders believed that if Black people just got educated or lived respectable lives than white people would stop treating them like 2nd class citizens. I think we all know that, that logic is dead wrong. Every version of Black Wall Street was destroyed by white people because nothing makes racist angrier than Black success.
This book was a monster and it was a very hard read. I had to take long breaks from reading it because of all te detailed descriptions of lynching. Black people some who were children tortured and even burned alive. Most often over fake accusations of raping white women.
Paula Giddings is a meticulous writer who really brought Ida to life. Ida was hated in her lifetime and forgotten for many years after her death. I'm so happy that in last few years she has finally gotten her flowers.
Ida B Wells was the embodiment of the phrase "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty".
A Must Read.
People like Ida B Wells are the reason I proudly vote in every election. She fought her entire life for my right to vote. Untold numbers of people were lynched for trying to vote. Every time I vote it's a Fuck You to all those racist pieces of shit.
VOTE!
Ida B Wells is probably one of the most important people in history that you've never heard of. Ida was a feminist, journalist, and anti lynching activist. She not only had to fight the racism of white people but also the white supremacy in the Black Civil Rights movement. Ida was campaigning for social reform before women and most Black men could even legally vote. She was considered one of the most dangerous people in America. As a known "race agitator," she was run out of her hometown Memphis.
Despite the horrible racism of white people most often her biggest foes were Black people and organizations like NAACP, Booker T Washington and W.E.B Dubois. Ida didn't believe in sucking up to white people in power. She also didn't believe in putting down poor or working class. During this first Civil Rights movement many Black leaders believed that if Black people just got educated or lived respectable lives than white people would stop treating them like 2nd class citizens. I think we all know that, that logic is dead wrong. Every version of Black Wall Street was destroyed by white people because nothing makes racist angrier than Black success.
This book was a monster and it was a very hard read. I had to take long breaks from reading it because of all te detailed descriptions of lynching. Black people some who were children tortured and even burned alive. Most often over fake accusations of raping white women.
Paula Giddings is a meticulous writer who really brought Ida to life. Ida was hated in her lifetime and forgotten for many years after her death. I'm so happy that in last few years she has finally gotten her flowers.
Ida B Wells was the embodiment of the phrase "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty".
A Must Read.
People like Ida B Wells are the reason I proudly vote in every election. She fought her entire life for my right to vote. Untold numbers of people were lynched for trying to vote. Every time I vote it's a Fuck You to all those racist pieces of shit.
VOTE!
May 31, 2015
This took me a little over two months to read, and it was worth every moment. Best biography I've ever read. And it doubles as an AP History text, too, in all the things most of us are never taught about Black American history.
This incredibly detailed work of scholarship (over 600 pages of text, and then another 200+ pages of notes and bibliography) covers everything known about Ida Barnett-Wells's life and work, from her difficult childhood through the trials and tribulations of her teaching career, leading up to the climax, the anti-lynching work for which she is best known today. After a long engagement in that struggle, we see her marriage to Frederick Barnett, who was just as socially passionate as she was, and watch her juggle the responsibilities of family and activism (Wells claimed she was the first woman to tour the country giving social justice speeches while nursing a newborn at the same time, and she's most likely right). Once established in Chicago, Ida turned her attention to women's suffrage, the formation of women's clubs (which did a lot of good community organizing and charity work), and getting black candidates elected to office, both in Chicago and statewide.
I mean , seriously. This woman did not rest until the day she died, at age 68, of uremic poisoning.
While Ida is the star of the show, we also get a detailed backdrop of the Reconstruction era, complete with detailed accounts of horrible crimes that will put you off your feed for a long while. The early 20s were not much better, though the political tide slowly began to change in such a way that Republicans, once the party of black people, slowly changed places with the Democrats. We also get accounts of other major African American historical figures, such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, both of whom thought Ida was just a bit too loud and opinionated (a criticism that haunted her all her life).
Ida gave zero fucks. She was too busy visiting wrongfully imprisoned people, speaking out against black involvement in World War I (which earned her the reputation of being more subversive than Marcus Garvey), helping clean up both debris and corruption at Red Cross camps, and raising money for just about every social and political cause you could imagine. She started a version of the Y, specifically for black people. She wrote angry letters, pamphlets, and broadsides in response to whatever bullshit was being trotted out by the talking heads of the day, black AND white. And while many middle-class black people were only interested in taking care of their own, Ida did her darndest to help not just her fellow wealthy Chicagoans, but also the steady influx of migrants from the south, who needed pretty much everything from food to jobs to an education.
Her reward for all this labor? Men and women constantly looked down their noses at her, mostly because she wasn't "nice" or "polite," and when the histories began to be compiled, her contributions were minimized and downplayed by the folks telling the stories. What Giddings has done here is painted an amazingly detailed portrait of a proud, passionate woman who always called it like she saw it, no matter what the political or social consequences, and only confessed her self-doubts to her diary.
Pretty much the best biography ever. It's changed my life. Seriously.
This incredibly detailed work of scholarship (over 600 pages of text, and then another 200+ pages of notes and bibliography) covers everything known about Ida Barnett-Wells's life and work, from her difficult childhood through the trials and tribulations of her teaching career, leading up to the climax, the anti-lynching work for which she is best known today. After a long engagement in that struggle, we see her marriage to Frederick Barnett, who was just as socially passionate as she was, and watch her juggle the responsibilities of family and activism (Wells claimed she was the first woman to tour the country giving social justice speeches while nursing a newborn at the same time, and she's most likely right). Once established in Chicago, Ida turned her attention to women's suffrage, the formation of women's clubs (which did a lot of good community organizing and charity work), and getting black candidates elected to office, both in Chicago and statewide.
I mean , seriously. This woman did not rest until the day she died, at age 68, of uremic poisoning.
While Ida is the star of the show, we also get a detailed backdrop of the Reconstruction era, complete with detailed accounts of horrible crimes that will put you off your feed for a long while. The early 20s were not much better, though the political tide slowly began to change in such a way that Republicans, once the party of black people, slowly changed places with the Democrats. We also get accounts of other major African American historical figures, such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, both of whom thought Ida was just a bit too loud and opinionated (a criticism that haunted her all her life).
Ida gave zero fucks. She was too busy visiting wrongfully imprisoned people, speaking out against black involvement in World War I (which earned her the reputation of being more subversive than Marcus Garvey), helping clean up both debris and corruption at Red Cross camps, and raising money for just about every social and political cause you could imagine. She started a version of the Y, specifically for black people. She wrote angry letters, pamphlets, and broadsides in response to whatever bullshit was being trotted out by the talking heads of the day, black AND white. And while many middle-class black people were only interested in taking care of their own, Ida did her darndest to help not just her fellow wealthy Chicagoans, but also the steady influx of migrants from the south, who needed pretty much everything from food to jobs to an education.
Her reward for all this labor? Men and women constantly looked down their noses at her, mostly because she wasn't "nice" or "polite," and when the histories began to be compiled, her contributions were minimized and downplayed by the folks telling the stories. What Giddings has done here is painted an amazingly detailed portrait of a proud, passionate woman who always called it like she saw it, no matter what the political or social consequences, and only confessed her self-doubts to her diary.
Pretty much the best biography ever. It's changed my life. Seriously.
July 8, 2015
This took forever for me to finish but it was a great read. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a trailblazer and should get far more recognition and credit than she does. Her investigative reports on lynching, some of which were included in the book, were so thorough and gave the real reasons why black men and women were lynched. I found her life and work around lynchings to be the most interesting part of the book; I wasn't so much interested in the politics and disagreements she got into with prominent African Americans during that time.
Furthermore, this book prompted me to start reading Phillip Dray's book on lynching, "At the Hands of Persons Unknown". Shoutout to Ta-Nehesi Coates of The Atlantic for bringing "Ida: a Sword Among Lions" to my attention!
Furthermore, this book prompted me to start reading Phillip Dray's book on lynching, "At the Hands of Persons Unknown". Shoutout to Ta-Nehesi Coates of The Atlantic for bringing "Ida: a Sword Among Lions" to my attention!
March 24, 2019
An exhaustive (and often exhausting) look at the turn-of-the-century struggle for basic Black rights. The title is a bit of a misnomer since while Giddings focuses the struggle around Ms. Wells-Barnett, she is really covering all the ground, no matter how peripheral to Ida's life it may seem. Wells-Barnett is arguably a secondary character to the struggle itself.
In this effort, Giddings discusses what feels like an endless stream of names, organizations and acronyms. Indeed one of my major takeaways from this book is the self-defeating futility of the squabbling, internecine mass of various rights organizations (Black groups, Prohibition groups, Religious groups, Womens' groups). A huge obstacle to actually accomplishing anything in ANY of their arenas was that they all obsessively guarded their own territory (and, one suspects, egos).
Ida herself seems emblematic of this problem, pathologically creating groups, alienating herself from them, and then hopping to new ones. My inexpert impression is that if she couldn't be running things she wanted no part of it (usually finding some personal slight or offense to justify her departure). I wish Giddings had analyzed this apparent pathology a little more, though her scope was clearly aimed at description rather than explanation.
And I don't mean to sound overly harsh about Ms. Wells-Barnett. She clearly carried massive influence in her day, and essentially created the anti-lynching campaign. She was fearless and impatient for change, always seeking action instead of talk and diplomacy. Her brashness served to undercut her legacy, unfortunately, but it doesn't erase the concrete evidence of her accomplishments.
I also wish Giddings had used more space to reflect on why Wells was so shunned in the latter half of her life, especially by people like W.E.B. Du Bois. There's no other way to describe the omission of her name in relation to the anti-lynching campaign than as an outrage, and it would have been helpful to better understand how her opponents could have ever committed such an injustice. There's no real explanation (besides her abrasive attitude) for how so many influential Blacks could have ignored her contributions with such ingratitude.
Another major takeaway from the book was Ida's relationship with Booker T. Washington. I've never much studied the man, only learning about him as one of the great Black leaders of his day. So I was surprised to see him portrayed somewhat negatively in this book -- not overtly perhaps, but Giddings, given her subject, clearly prefers bolder activism to what I consider Washington's accommodation ideology.
And this is a valuable distinction that the book makes, and a timely one as well. Actually I'd call it "timeless" because it's a lesson we've seen before but apparently haven't really learned. It's that in any rights movement there will be a battle between Truth/Justice and Accommodation/Obsequiousness. The latter will want the former, yes, but they will say, as Booker said -- as many today say -- that the best way to get rights is to show your opponents that you are good, decent and intelligent. That you're a moral being.
The lesson we should have learned over the last several hundred years, however, is that no matter how good you are, your hateful adversary will still hate you. Even if he's nice to you he'll still despise you for your servility. Ingratiating yourself to them only debases yourself, and it does nothing to address the root cause of irrational racism. If you're starting out just asking to be considered human, you're setting the bar too low. You're relinquishing your dignity, which actually proves to your opponent that you're not fully human.
Wells-Barnett and likeminded activists know that equality is not a negotiation. It's a human right and a moral imperative; there is no compromise. It partly explains her abrasiveness I'm sure, that no incremental change was ever enough for her without full capitulation. So we end up with Wells-Barnett as a pariah for speaking the unabashed truth, and Booker T. as one of our favorite negroes because he was afraid to piss off white people.
We can see this lesson repeated throughout history. MLK is a good example of someone who spoke truth and was a pariah in his time. Maybe it's a sign of our progress that we now lionize him instead of forgetting him (though I suspect Malcolm X's simultaneous existence has more to do with it). We see it today with Black Lives Matter, which many feel doesn't "protest the right way." But what those people don't consider -- because they've never had to -- is that there are very few wrong ways to demand basic rights and equality.
One final takeaway is with regards to this truth that Ida spoke incessantly. This book is a good lesson that just speaking truth is not enough, because if people aren't psychologically prepared to listen, it will only lead to backlash. It's difficult to devise a solution to this fundamental issue, though I suspect the right path tends toward intimate, compassionate conversations in small groups or even individually. Haranguing may be fun but it's only productive insofar as you're rousing supporters. Respectful discourse, I believe, is where the solution lies.*
In the end, this was a long, tedious book to get through, but I'm glad to know more about Ms. Wells-Barnett, lynching, and the Black rights struggle in the early 20th century. I would recommend it to U.S. history buffs and avid readers on Race. To more casual readers I would suggest Giddings's more comprehensive (and leaner) When and Where I Enter, which also features Ida in abbreviated form.
-----
*To be sure, I do not consider excusing/justifying hate speech as respectful discourse. It is absolutely necessary -- indeed a moral imperative -- to attack such speech and snuff it out of existence wherever encountered. Speech that denies a human's full humanity will always be unacceptable. I also want to make clear that I am not one of these liberals who values respectful discourse and bipartisanship above all else. It is a tool like any other, with a specific use - in this case, for trying to convince overall good people who already have basic sympathies with the antiracist position. Trying to apply it in other contexts is misguided at best and actively harmful at worst (e.g. platforming Nazis).
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
In this effort, Giddings discusses what feels like an endless stream of names, organizations and acronyms. Indeed one of my major takeaways from this book is the self-defeating futility of the squabbling, internecine mass of various rights organizations (Black groups, Prohibition groups, Religious groups, Womens' groups). A huge obstacle to actually accomplishing anything in ANY of their arenas was that they all obsessively guarded their own territory (and, one suspects, egos).
Ida herself seems emblematic of this problem, pathologically creating groups, alienating herself from them, and then hopping to new ones. My inexpert impression is that if she couldn't be running things she wanted no part of it (usually finding some personal slight or offense to justify her departure). I wish Giddings had analyzed this apparent pathology a little more, though her scope was clearly aimed at description rather than explanation.
And I don't mean to sound overly harsh about Ms. Wells-Barnett. She clearly carried massive influence in her day, and essentially created the anti-lynching campaign. She was fearless and impatient for change, always seeking action instead of talk and diplomacy. Her brashness served to undercut her legacy, unfortunately, but it doesn't erase the concrete evidence of her accomplishments.
I also wish Giddings had used more space to reflect on why Wells was so shunned in the latter half of her life, especially by people like W.E.B. Du Bois. There's no other way to describe the omission of her name in relation to the anti-lynching campaign than as an outrage, and it would have been helpful to better understand how her opponents could have ever committed such an injustice. There's no real explanation (besides her abrasive attitude) for how so many influential Blacks could have ignored her contributions with such ingratitude.
Another major takeaway from the book was Ida's relationship with Booker T. Washington. I've never much studied the man, only learning about him as one of the great Black leaders of his day. So I was surprised to see him portrayed somewhat negatively in this book -- not overtly perhaps, but Giddings, given her subject, clearly prefers bolder activism to what I consider Washington's accommodation ideology.
And this is a valuable distinction that the book makes, and a timely one as well. Actually I'd call it "timeless" because it's a lesson we've seen before but apparently haven't really learned. It's that in any rights movement there will be a battle between Truth/Justice and Accommodation/Obsequiousness. The latter will want the former, yes, but they will say, as Booker said -- as many today say -- that the best way to get rights is to show your opponents that you are good, decent and intelligent. That you're a moral being.
The lesson we should have learned over the last several hundred years, however, is that no matter how good you are, your hateful adversary will still hate you. Even if he's nice to you he'll still despise you for your servility. Ingratiating yourself to them only debases yourself, and it does nothing to address the root cause of irrational racism. If you're starting out just asking to be considered human, you're setting the bar too low. You're relinquishing your dignity, which actually proves to your opponent that you're not fully human.
Wells-Barnett and likeminded activists know that equality is not a negotiation. It's a human right and a moral imperative; there is no compromise. It partly explains her abrasiveness I'm sure, that no incremental change was ever enough for her without full capitulation. So we end up with Wells-Barnett as a pariah for speaking the unabashed truth, and Booker T. as one of our favorite negroes because he was afraid to piss off white people.
We can see this lesson repeated throughout history. MLK is a good example of someone who spoke truth and was a pariah in his time. Maybe it's a sign of our progress that we now lionize him instead of forgetting him (though I suspect Malcolm X's simultaneous existence has more to do with it). We see it today with Black Lives Matter, which many feel doesn't "protest the right way." But what those people don't consider -- because they've never had to -- is that there are very few wrong ways to demand basic rights and equality.
One final takeaway is with regards to this truth that Ida spoke incessantly. This book is a good lesson that just speaking truth is not enough, because if people aren't psychologically prepared to listen, it will only lead to backlash. It's difficult to devise a solution to this fundamental issue, though I suspect the right path tends toward intimate, compassionate conversations in small groups or even individually. Haranguing may be fun but it's only productive insofar as you're rousing supporters. Respectful discourse, I believe, is where the solution lies.*
In the end, this was a long, tedious book to get through, but I'm glad to know more about Ms. Wells-Barnett, lynching, and the Black rights struggle in the early 20th century. I would recommend it to U.S. history buffs and avid readers on Race. To more casual readers I would suggest Giddings's more comprehensive (and leaner) When and Where I Enter, which also features Ida in abbreviated form.
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*To be sure, I do not consider excusing/justifying hate speech as respectful discourse. It is absolutely necessary -- indeed a moral imperative -- to attack such speech and snuff it out of existence wherever encountered. Speech that denies a human's full humanity will always be unacceptable. I also want to make clear that I am not one of these liberals who values respectful discourse and bipartisanship above all else. It is a tool like any other, with a specific use - in this case, for trying to convince overall good people who already have basic sympathies with the antiracist position. Trying to apply it in other contexts is misguided at best and actively harmful at worst (e.g. platforming Nazis).
Not Bad Reviews
@pointblaek
December 29, 2012
This book is challenging to read because of the length and depth of subject matter, however, I walked away from the book with a renewed sense of pride for the rich history of Black women in America. Ida Wells is a heroine in my view and Paula Giddings did a phenomenal job capturing this.
July 23, 2018
Not only should we thank Toni Morrison for her beautiful novels and wonderful essays, but also for pushing Giddings to write this important biography of Ida B. Wells. And Giddings deserves thanks and love times ten for this work.
I didn’t realize how unusual some of my schooling was until I started to teach. For instance, because I had a teacher who was a descendent of Sally Hemmings and who told the class the story of Sally Hemmings, I always took that relationship with Jefferson as a given fact. It wasn’t until I was teaching that I realized some students in this day when Dr. Gordon-Reed has proven the fact, that people still are not told of the history.
But even with that background, I did not hear about Ida B Wells until after college when I was reading a book that referenced her. I looked her up. Today, we are lucky because her work is very accessible with the rise of e-books and texts. Giddings’ book does this famous woman a service but will also leave you wondering why it took so long. (Not that this is Giddings fault and she does examine some of these questions).
Ida B. Wells was a woman who most likely was not easy to get along with but who needs more statues because we should remember her and shout her name from the roof tops. It is because of Wells’ work as a journalist that we have the first major studies about lynching, a part of American history that we have yet to fully acknowledge and come to terms with as a nation. Perhaps her work on this dark issue has lead to her unjust and incorrect second tier status; a nation wants to forget such things. It shouldn’t though.
Born to former slaves who died when she was in her teens, Wells worked first as a teacher and then as a journalist and activist. In fact, Giddings includes in the photo section, a post that showcases Wells, Dubois, Washington, and Douglass as the famous speakers on race post-Civil War. During the course of her career, Wells addressed the politics and racism of rape, of education, and of protesting in addition to lynching. She was instrumental in the founding and running of several black groups
She was a hell of a woman, and not a tradition meek and mild sort either.
Giddings’ biography perhaps focuses more on Wells’ personal life, her interior life being difficult to know or evaluate. It is still a riveting book. Giddings’ prose is lively and clear. While there is a sense of Wells keeping herself back, Giddings does an excellent job of not only detailing the historical times but also examining the possible reasons for Wells’ drive. She also does not make out Wells to be more saint than sinner.
A must read.
I didn’t realize how unusual some of my schooling was until I started to teach. For instance, because I had a teacher who was a descendent of Sally Hemmings and who told the class the story of Sally Hemmings, I always took that relationship with Jefferson as a given fact. It wasn’t until I was teaching that I realized some students in this day when Dr. Gordon-Reed has proven the fact, that people still are not told of the history.
But even with that background, I did not hear about Ida B Wells until after college when I was reading a book that referenced her. I looked her up. Today, we are lucky because her work is very accessible with the rise of e-books and texts. Giddings’ book does this famous woman a service but will also leave you wondering why it took so long. (Not that this is Giddings fault and she does examine some of these questions).
Ida B. Wells was a woman who most likely was not easy to get along with but who needs more statues because we should remember her and shout her name from the roof tops. It is because of Wells’ work as a journalist that we have the first major studies about lynching, a part of American history that we have yet to fully acknowledge and come to terms with as a nation. Perhaps her work on this dark issue has lead to her unjust and incorrect second tier status; a nation wants to forget such things. It shouldn’t though.
Born to former slaves who died when she was in her teens, Wells worked first as a teacher and then as a journalist and activist. In fact, Giddings includes in the photo section, a post that showcases Wells, Dubois, Washington, and Douglass as the famous speakers on race post-Civil War. During the course of her career, Wells addressed the politics and racism of rape, of education, and of protesting in addition to lynching. She was instrumental in the founding and running of several black groups
She was a hell of a woman, and not a tradition meek and mild sort either.
Giddings’ biography perhaps focuses more on Wells’ personal life, her interior life being difficult to know or evaluate. It is still a riveting book. Giddings’ prose is lively and clear. While there is a sense of Wells keeping herself back, Giddings does an excellent job of not only detailing the historical times but also examining the possible reasons for Wells’ drive. She also does not make out Wells to be more saint than sinner.
A must read.
July 25, 2014
This is not only the biography of a woman, but also of an era. About Ida B. Wells-Barnett, I learned that she was far more than an anti-lynching crusader. That was certainly a crucial part of her story, but she was also a suffragist, a political strategist, and a humanitarian. Her impact on U.S. history has been vastly understated. She was not given much better credit during her lifetime. Luminaries like W.E.B. DuBois and Carter G. Woodson who, it could be argued, owed some of their ideas and status to her work,continually downplayed her contributions and sidelined her. The book often attributes this to Ida's fierce and impolitic personality rubbing people the wrong way. But it also seems clear that her personality was particularly unacceptable in a woman, and particularly at that point in history. More than that, her ideas were considered radical for her time, and people like DuBois may have felt the need to distance themselves from her in order to maintain the patronage of white allies. I'd like to believe that his treatment of Wells-Barnett was more strategic than petty, although it is hard to come away from this book with that impression.
Beyond what this book conveys about Ida's life, it illuminates the vigorous organizing and activism in which black woman engaged from emancipation forward. This history is even less recognized that that of Wells-Barnett's life. Although the oft-told tales of African American history most often feature men (with the exception of Rosa Parks), it is clear that women were a crucial engine for idea generation, fundraising, and community mobilization. Patriarchy appears to have required these women, who built and headed large and influential organizations, to ultimately defer to male leaders. It seems that Ida's main problem was her unwillingness to do so. She wanted a seat at the table and expected for her contributions to be recognized. In fact, as Giddings writes, Ida was the first African American woman to attempt to write an autobiography. If not for Ida's obstreperous nature, so maligned in its day, her heroism and genius may have been lost to us, as have the deeds of so many other influential women throughout history. We are fortunate that she would not sit quietly in the backseat.
Beyond what this book conveys about Ida's life, it illuminates the vigorous organizing and activism in which black woman engaged from emancipation forward. This history is even less recognized that that of Wells-Barnett's life. Although the oft-told tales of African American history most often feature men (with the exception of Rosa Parks), it is clear that women were a crucial engine for idea generation, fundraising, and community mobilization. Patriarchy appears to have required these women, who built and headed large and influential organizations, to ultimately defer to male leaders. It seems that Ida's main problem was her unwillingness to do so. She wanted a seat at the table and expected for her contributions to be recognized. In fact, as Giddings writes, Ida was the first African American woman to attempt to write an autobiography. If not for Ida's obstreperous nature, so maligned in its day, her heroism and genius may have been lost to us, as have the deeds of so many other influential women throughout history. We are fortunate that she would not sit quietly in the backseat.
January 26, 2020
Well, that took a very long time to read, but it was worth the effort. Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a militant anti-rascist at a time when most Black leaders and others who worked on race issues were not. The biography offers a picture of what a part of Black life was like in the years after the Civil War and into the 20th century. What struck me most is how astonishingly productive the formerly enslaved and the rest of the Black America were in those years -- economically, educationally, socially, politically. Reading about it highlighted the impact of systemic racism for me, and the ways we have continually denied African Americans all that they have earned and stopped them from making progress (and then blamed them for the results). If they'd been allowed to continue on the trajectory begun after the Civil War, we would not be seeing all the gaps in wealth, health, education, political representation, etc. that we have now.
The book goes beyond Wells-Barnett's campaign against lynching into the myriad other ways she worked to combat racism and support Black people. She was seemingly tireless, though her efforts were often overlooked by her contemporaries. She played a critical role in the women's suffrage movement, and in mobilizing Black women in particular, once they'd earned the vote. She helped get the first Black alderman elected in Chicago. Really, her accomplishments are so vast -- there are good reasons for her 800-page biography.
Her biographer also examines the divide between Ida and other Black leaders. One side championed Booker T. Washington, who founded the Tuskegee Institute and advocated a moral uplift path, basically arguing that through education and gaining industrial and technical skills, Black people would gradually "earn" their rightful place in the country and the respect of white people. White leaders embraced this philosophy that made it Black people's problem to overcome racism. Ida and others who saw the inherent racism in not treating Black folks as equal citizens from the start, fought his message, but Washington was seen by many as the voice of Black people in America for many years.
There is such a wealth of hidden history here -- I highly recommend it.
The book goes beyond Wells-Barnett's campaign against lynching into the myriad other ways she worked to combat racism and support Black people. She was seemingly tireless, though her efforts were often overlooked by her contemporaries. She played a critical role in the women's suffrage movement, and in mobilizing Black women in particular, once they'd earned the vote. She helped get the first Black alderman elected in Chicago. Really, her accomplishments are so vast -- there are good reasons for her 800-page biography.
Her biographer also examines the divide between Ida and other Black leaders. One side championed Booker T. Washington, who founded the Tuskegee Institute and advocated a moral uplift path, basically arguing that through education and gaining industrial and technical skills, Black people would gradually "earn" their rightful place in the country and the respect of white people. White leaders embraced this philosophy that made it Black people's problem to overcome racism. Ida and others who saw the inherent racism in not treating Black folks as equal citizens from the start, fought his message, but Washington was seen by many as the voice of Black people in America for many years.
There is such a wealth of hidden history here -- I highly recommend it.
Read
June 2, 2015Really interesting subject but the level of detail was too much for me as a general reader. It was hard to get through the whole book. I did appreciate learning about the infighting and drama that Ida Wells had to deal with. Her strong personality and passion for justice came through loud and clear. Also, many of the internal conflicts among people working for progressive goals sounded extremely familiar. On the one hand, it's kind of depressing to think that we are going through the same drama now as 100 years ago; on the other hand, it makes me feel like maybe we are accomplishing something, just as Ida Wells was.
Check out this quote from Frances Willard of the WCTU - it sounds just like some of the white liberal racism of today:
"[Ida] is a bright woman and I have nothing against her except that my study of her character and work leads me to feel that she has not the balance and steadiness that are requisite in a successful reformer. I do not mention this as her fault but her misfortune... I have always treated colored people just as I treated white in every respect, and it is, I think, a downright injustice that I have been made by good Frederick Douglass, by percussive Miss Wells and some others to appear as the enemy of a race that I love and on whose behalf I would do anything that seems to me to be helpful and practicable." (p. 337-8)
Check out this quote from Frances Willard of the WCTU - it sounds just like some of the white liberal racism of today:
"[Ida] is a bright woman and I have nothing against her except that my study of her character and work leads me to feel that she has not the balance and steadiness that are requisite in a successful reformer. I do not mention this as her fault but her misfortune... I have always treated colored people just as I treated white in every respect, and it is, I think, a downright injustice that I have been made by good Frederick Douglass, by percussive Miss Wells and some others to appear as the enemy of a race that I love and on whose behalf I would do anything that seems to me to be helpful and practicable." (p. 337-8)
April 29, 2010
I'd never heard about Ida B. Wells, until I read a blog post somewhere recommending this biography. I think reading this book "blind" made it more interesting because I didn't know what to expect from this woman's life. I commend Giddings research and fantastic writing to keep me engaged (though it definitely took me a long time to finish it) and I feel like I got a really good feel for who Ida B. Wells was. I think the most interesting thing was seeing Ida struggle against marginalization (sometimes from within her own community) and try to make herself matter. You do find out a lot about the petty infighting and sometimes it's hard to keep track of all the names, but I find these details important. Anyway, all in all a great read about a fascinating woman. I plan on reading Giddings book, "When and Where I Enter" to learn about other women of color in the civil rights movement.
December 10, 2022
I purchased the book back in April as I wanted to know more about Ida B. Wells. The book is very well-researched and discusses all of strengths and weaknesses. I have other biographies of W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington that were contemporaries, and Giddings' book gives me a view of the times through Ida's eyes.
July 12, 2012
Extremely comprehensive. Anyone who needs to gather tons of background knowledge (and contextual evidence) about Wells-Barnett should read this book. It made teaching my students about Wells-Barnett a lot easier because I had plenty of information to pull from. It does get too dense in places though, but I can't fault Giddings for being so passionate and interested in her topic.
May 25, 2015
A monumental biography for an amazing woman, A Sword Among Lions walks through Ida B. Wells's childhood in Mississippi, her defining moment confronting lynch mobs in Memphis, and her subsequent august career as an advocate, journalist, activist, and public intellectual. Giddings brings into focus Wells's trailblazing work, including an early and progressive analysis of the social realities underlying lynching, which would take decades for her more privileged black male and white female contemporaries to match. In an era of class condescension and the remnants of Victorian pearl-clutching, Wells grew into a woman unafraid to stake her reputation, and her livelihood, on her conviction that all her people, not just the respectable victims, deserved protection from the state and a fair hearing in court. Her long marriage to Ferdinand Barnett unfolds in the background of her activism, and intrigues with the lack of documentation of what must have been an impressively honest and egalitarian relationship given its impact on both their lives.
This biography is a must read for two reasons. First, America has collectively chosen to forget the bloody, inhumane, shameful, and lingering legacy of slavery to this day. Comforted by the our embrace of a civil rights legacy that is itself lionized but also whitewashed, we do not spend a lot of social energy remembering the violence begotten by racism less than 100 years ago. Wells's sharp-eyed analysis of lynching, of the use of narratives of racial sexual purity and depravity to cover for theft, torture, and murder, and her challenge of state-sponsored and state-sanctioned violence against black citizens is keenly relevant today. Second, the book reclaims Ida B. Wells as a pivotal figure in anti-lynching work, anti-racism, labor activism, and feminism. Her contributions, envied, disparaged, and stolen even during her lifetime, should take their rightful place in our recollection of the long civil rights struggle.
Beyond this central thrust, there are too many reasons to read this book, from Wells's complicated relationship with Frederick Douglass to the way she rubbed against all of W.E.B. Du Bois's insecurities, to the lessons about how money drives philanthropic work and often amplifies the voices of those who do the least meaningful work for a cause, and Giddings's excellent accounting of the role black women played in holding the Chicago machine more accountable to black and female constituencies. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
This biography is a must read for two reasons. First, America has collectively chosen to forget the bloody, inhumane, shameful, and lingering legacy of slavery to this day. Comforted by the our embrace of a civil rights legacy that is itself lionized but also whitewashed, we do not spend a lot of social energy remembering the violence begotten by racism less than 100 years ago. Wells's sharp-eyed analysis of lynching, of the use of narratives of racial sexual purity and depravity to cover for theft, torture, and murder, and her challenge of state-sponsored and state-sanctioned violence against black citizens is keenly relevant today. Second, the book reclaims Ida B. Wells as a pivotal figure in anti-lynching work, anti-racism, labor activism, and feminism. Her contributions, envied, disparaged, and stolen even during her lifetime, should take their rightful place in our recollection of the long civil rights struggle.
Beyond this central thrust, there are too many reasons to read this book, from Wells's complicated relationship with Frederick Douglass to the way she rubbed against all of W.E.B. Du Bois's insecurities, to the lessons about how money drives philanthropic work and often amplifies the voices of those who do the least meaningful work for a cause, and Giddings's excellent accounting of the role black women played in holding the Chicago machine more accountable to black and female constituencies. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
June 8, 2015
I know the bare-bones basics about Ida Wells going into this book: Southern journalist who spearheaded the campaign against lynching. That sentence alone should give you some sense of how courageous the lady was. Yet the more I read, the more impressive Ida Wells got - not only that once she found her issue, she worked so constantly for that goal, but also that she took anything that was thrown at her, picked herself back up, and kept right on. On the rare occasions she did get tired of the fight, her family and friends knew how to cushion or coax her back into form. Born into slavery, Wells had to become an adult at a young age on the untimely death of her parents, taking responsibility not only for herself, but also trying to hold the family together. She moved to Memphis, where she became involved in journalism and eventually in anti-lynching work, exposing many popular notions about why lynching happened and what it represented for the myths that they were. Although the campaign against lynching became her life's work, she was also involved in the women's suffrage movement and other political topics of the day. The author makes perhaps too much of the interpersonal drama that seems inevitable in any political movement - particularly when several of the personalities involved are titans jockeying for position with a knowing eye on their historical legacies. (Although that drama is illuminating in its way, showing the various strategies and philosophies in the civil rights movement.)
April 1, 2017
2.5. I appreciated the information, and the book was very comprehensive, but I feel like it was almost too comprehensive. As an example, the author tells a story about a time when young Ida spent too much money shopping at a department store, and subsequently was unable to pay her rent. This is an interesting anecdote, but is made less so when the author makes sure to tell us the typical price of the items she bought, a brief history of the department store she bought them from, the name of the landlady she was unable to pay rent to, and a discussion of why the landlady was renting out rooms. I felt like the interesting story of Ida B Wells's life was buried in an avalanche of distracting superfluous facts. There were portions that avoided this problem, such as the descriptions of the various lynchings that Ida wrote about, which were genuinely horrific and moving. I do feel like I have a greater understanding of the state of race relations at the time based on that alone. I think it is interesting to get insight into the sort of pettiness and in-fighting that went on in the civil rights movement of Ida's time. I also was really pleased to learn more about Ida B Wells herself. However, I can't ignore the fact that I feel like I have been reading this book for an age, which is generally not a great sign for me.
August 13, 2009
Ida B. Wells was a journalist and tireless campaigner against lynching around the turn of the 20th century. She had a fascinating and exciting life that spanned a changing era from the end of slavery to the mid-twentieth century. Her parents were slaves, but she was able to get an education, travel, and become an important voice for equal rights for Blacks. She knew and spent time with Jane Adams, Susan B. Anthony, Frederick Douglass and WEB Du Bois, to name just a few. Her writing against lynching was considered so inflammatory, she had to flee Memphis in fear for her life. At the same time, though, while Giddings' book is well-researched, it might have been a better book for containing a little less of infighting, the back and forth letters, that make the book seem long and repetitive. I was excited to read it, as it was well-reviewed and about such an interesting, and relatively neglected, historical figure, but I'm slogging through it.
February 2, 2017
A wonderful, VERY long biography of one of my heroes. I WILL get through; I THINK I can; I THINK I can....
May 20, 2024
This is a compelling and fascinating biography of one of American history's most influential troublemaking women. Giddings mines every available source to bring Ida to the page, showing us this prickly, fierce, confident and wickedly smart journalist and activist. In the course, she also paints a fascinating picture of an era which straddles so much change. Figures to make a significant appearance stretch from a gradually ageing Frederick Douglass to a young and fiery Marcus Garvey, with W. E.B. Dubois and Booker T. Washington playing major roles in between. At the start of Wells-Barnett's life, the Democratic Party was the home of American racism. By the end, the Republicans are stealing that ground.
This is a lengthy read - the 800 pages translated to 13500 kindle locations just to get to the notes section (and many of the notes are worth reading). Yet I remained happy to be ensconced in it day after day, with the hook of individual, social and party history.
The book fleshes out Ida's story considerably from her autobiography. This is both true of covering events that Wells-Barnett leaves out (including the death of her sister, and several political events) and of spending more time for a modern audience on the shifting politics of black emancipation and fight for rights. What appeared in the autobiography to be largely interpersonal conflicts hence takes centre stage as the dynamic evolution towards civil rights, into and away from political parties and shifting class analysis. Giddings at times argues, interestingly, that Wells-Barnett does not show her own self clearly always in the autobiography (there is snark detectable in Giddings pointing out that despite Wells-Barnett's advocacy for motherhood as a full-time job, she didn't make more than a couple of years before she was firmly in the fray). This is most interesting around class, and Wells-Barnett's strong lifetime belief that a person's capacity for good did not correlate to their social positioning, which frequently put her at odds with male leaders such as Washington and Dubois.
One surprising omission is much time spent with the suffragette movement, including the mutual respect that existed between Susan B. Anthony and Wells-Barnett. This is briefly - less space than in Wells-Barnett's autobiography - and while Giddings refers frequently to Wells-Barnett's belief in women as a force for social reform, the evidence is not covered in the depth you feel it could have been.
Giddings does cover, in often upsetting detail, the progress and growth of lynching even as the activism against it grows. This documentation provides context for Wells-Barnett's motivations, sense of urgency and her incredible devotion to work, and often short fuse with shenanigans that got in the way of it. Even as Giddings shows the moves to establish a Black elite, she shows how steadily things were getting more segregated and violence steadily increases.
She also manages that rare gift for a biographer - affection for her subject without smoothing the edges. Ida emerges here in all her hypersensitive, short-fused glory. We see her growth in balancing where a fight might backfire on her people, if not entirely on her, and her refusal to be any more self-effacing than her male peers get to be. In this sterling portrayal, Giddings refuses to apologise for the difficulty of difficult women. She, instead, shows us how they make history, even when denied credit for it. Ida emerges magnificent, flawed and yet so much bigger than the world would have her be.
This is a lengthy read - the 800 pages translated to 13500 kindle locations just to get to the notes section (and many of the notes are worth reading). Yet I remained happy to be ensconced in it day after day, with the hook of individual, social and party history.
The book fleshes out Ida's story considerably from her autobiography. This is both true of covering events that Wells-Barnett leaves out (including the death of her sister, and several political events) and of spending more time for a modern audience on the shifting politics of black emancipation and fight for rights. What appeared in the autobiography to be largely interpersonal conflicts hence takes centre stage as the dynamic evolution towards civil rights, into and away from political parties and shifting class analysis. Giddings at times argues, interestingly, that Wells-Barnett does not show her own self clearly always in the autobiography (there is snark detectable in Giddings pointing out that despite Wells-Barnett's advocacy for motherhood as a full-time job, she didn't make more than a couple of years before she was firmly in the fray). This is most interesting around class, and Wells-Barnett's strong lifetime belief that a person's capacity for good did not correlate to their social positioning, which frequently put her at odds with male leaders such as Washington and Dubois.
One surprising omission is much time spent with the suffragette movement, including the mutual respect that existed between Susan B. Anthony and Wells-Barnett. This is briefly - less space than in Wells-Barnett's autobiography - and while Giddings refers frequently to Wells-Barnett's belief in women as a force for social reform, the evidence is not covered in the depth you feel it could have been.
Giddings does cover, in often upsetting detail, the progress and growth of lynching even as the activism against it grows. This documentation provides context for Wells-Barnett's motivations, sense of urgency and her incredible devotion to work, and often short fuse with shenanigans that got in the way of it. Even as Giddings shows the moves to establish a Black elite, she shows how steadily things were getting more segregated and violence steadily increases.
She also manages that rare gift for a biographer - affection for her subject without smoothing the edges. Ida emerges here in all her hypersensitive, short-fused glory. We see her growth in balancing where a fight might backfire on her people, if not entirely on her, and her refusal to be any more self-effacing than her male peers get to be. In this sterling portrayal, Giddings refuses to apologise for the difficulty of difficult women. She, instead, shows us how they make history, even when denied credit for it. Ida emerges magnificent, flawed and yet so much bigger than the world would have her be.
January 5, 2025
A 5/5 for the life of the person it's about. A 3/5 at best for the author's writing.
September 27, 2014
When must we break the social conventions that bind us and use those same conventions to further justice? Ida B. Wells navigated her life with these two questions ever in mind: in order to seek justice, she often had to both break with social convention and to appeal to it. Giddings' biography explores Wells' strengths and weaknesses, leaving this reader grateful for Wells' pursuit of justice and inspired by her discipline to keep learning from every defeat and keep organizing for justice throughout her life.
A note for Unitarian Universalist readers: some of the more challenging and shameful actions by Unitarians and Universalists are part of Wells' history. Giddings does us all the service of sharing both the good moments (endorsing anti-lynching activism in some cases, individuals joining in organizing) and the awful (individual and institutional). It is good to know this history and to remember our choices in our current day re: injustice, especially racial and gender based injustices.
A note for Unitarian Universalist readers: some of the more challenging and shameful actions by Unitarians and Universalists are part of Wells' history. Giddings does us all the service of sharing both the good moments (endorsing anti-lynching activism in some cases, individuals joining in organizing) and the awful (individual and institutional). It is good to know this history and to remember our choices in our current day re: injustice, especially racial and gender based injustices.
Read
January 1, 2015I wanted to be an investigative journalist when I was in high school so when Ida B. Wells appeared in our history segments I was fascinated and wanted to know more. Fast forward and I no longer have an interest in journalism but Ida B. Wells still holds my attention. I wanted to like this book but the inclusion of all manner of trivial matters of Ida's personal life (she turns out not to be a very likeable person - hot-headed, sensitive and self-absorbed) along with details of all the requisite infighting among the community have made reading this book hard work. I put it down and have come back to it several times but am not sure I will be able to finish it. This is a disappointment to me because I hardly ever leave books unfinished.
March 13, 2009
Run out of Memphis for her investigative (and incendiary!) journalism and ridiculed by her moderate contemporaries for black separatist and pro-woman views, Ida B. Wells' activism precedes those credited for similar "novel" actions. Rosa Parks (and maybe not Wells) was not the first person kicked out of transport designated for white people only. Wells traveled around the United States investigating and speaking against lynching and dispelled the myth of the black male rapist. Paula Giddings suggests that Wells' extensive speaking tours in England were the reason that public opinion there swayed against lynching. Such assertions that one person accomplished so much would be specious in most other books; Giddings, however, writes a well-researched, thorough, and compelling book.
December 17, 2008
One fascinating part of the life of one of African American history's most interesting women. Teacher, activist, one of the original founders of the NAACP, outspoken journalist, and crusader against lynching and segregation. It's hard to believe one person was so involved in civil rights, especially during a time when the consequences for speaking out could be fatal. This book takes a scholarly look at her work to bring the horrors of lynching to the attention of the nation. Good book for a movie.
February 23, 2009
Well, she's no Doris Kearns Goodwin and it's a hard slog but well worth it. I learned so much about the interworkings of the antiracist social movement. It's heartbreaking how she's continually marginalized but stays the course campaigning against lynching. Of course, she was clearly a prickly pear herself. A great history of lynching, feminism, Chicago politics. Very different from the breezy When and Where I Enter.
September 10, 2020
An amazingly detailed book about her life and times. It details her ongoing efforts to raise the issue of lynchings in the South and elsewhere and her eventual involvement in the suffragette movement and politics. As opposed to Booker T. Washington she was the more militant and many of her ideas were used by others (often without attribution). At a time when so few Americans know little about the history of race relations in America this provides a valuable piece of that narrative.
February 16, 2014
Have to admit I didn't know much about her other than her name before reading this book. So much we as Africa Americans we don't know is our own fault. If you don't tell the kids what you know the how are they ever going to her about what life was like back then.
July 28, 2015
Fantastic, detailed biography about a very courageous and determined woman who dared to make a lot of people uncomfortable. Sadly, she was never given the credit she deserved for her tireless crusade against lynching, largely due to jealousy and chauvinism within her own organizations.
January 26, 2020
While the writing is very academic and dense, it is truly remarkable content. Ida B. Wells is a heroic figure and one I knew very little about, and frankly very little is written about. Some of our strongest women through history are written over or not written about - so glad I read this.
May 2, 2008
still working on this, but it is utterly engrossing! how i wish this book had been an available resource to consult during law school...will write more later when I finish.
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