Women's History Month No. 20

"I came home every Friday afternoon, riding the six miles on the back of a big mule. I spent Saturday and Sunday washing and ironing and cooking for the children [her six younger siblings, all orphaned when Ida was only 16 years old - I mean, think of it!] and went back to my country school [where she was a teenaged schoolteacher, in order to provide for them all] on Sunday afternoon."

"Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense."

"Our country's national crime is lynching."

"One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or rat in a trap."

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett a.k.a. "Iola" July 16, 1862 (Please note: We're coming up on her 150th anniversary) ~ March 25, 1931 (my grandma's 38th birthday).

This woman, this journalist, educator, anti-lynching crusader, civil rights advocate, and suffrage activist just knocks me out. I had heard of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, but in reading more about her, when I was working on my book, Rabble Rousers, I was so taken by her courage, her steadfastness, and yes, her beauty. Do check out this link and the others and read more about this valiant woman. She was so amazing, no foolin.'