Ida B Wells— The Woman Who Documented Terror

0:04 Welcome to True Crime, authors and extraordinary people. The podcast where we bring two passions together. The show that gives new meaning to the old adage, truth is stranger than fiction. And reminding you that there is an extraordinary person in all of us. Here is your host, David McClam. What's going on, everybody? Welcome to the episode of True Crime Authors and Extraordinary People, Black History Month Fact Edition. Of course, I'm your man, David McClam. If you guys haven't already, make sure you follow us on all of our social media. One link to a link tree will get you every place you need to go pertaining to the show. And as I always like to remind you, if you are someone or you know someone who feels like creating themselves or someone else, please leave this up as soon as Dow 988.

0:51 It is a suicide prevention hotline. They can get you the help that you need. In case no one has told you this today, let me be the first to tell you I do care and I need you to be here. There is nothing worth your life. Alright, so today we're gonna come with a good fact for you. This one is called Ida B. Wells, the woman who documented terror. Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in 1862, just months before the Emancipation Proclamation. Freedom was not a clean break for her. It was something she had to navigate in a country that resented his own promises.

1:32 By the time she was a teenager, both of her parents had died of yellow fever, and Ida became the sole provider for her siblings. Survival came first, truth came soon after. She became a teacher because it was one of the few professions available to educated black women, but teaching was never her end game. Writing was, investigation was, Ida Wells had an instinct for patterns and intolerance for lies, especially the ones America told itself to justify violence. In 1884, she was forcibly removed from a first-class railroad car despite holding a valid ticket. She sued and initially won.

2:13 The ruling was later overturned, but something in her hardened that day. She understood that humiliation was policy, not accident. The turning point came in 1892 when three black men, Thomas Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Henry Stewart, were lynched in Memphis. They were successful businessmen who owned a grocery store that competed with a white owned shop nearby. Their success was perceived as a threat. That was all it took. Ida knew them personally. One of them was the godfather of her child. She investigated their murders and published what no one else would, that lynching was not about justice or protecting white womanhood.

2:56 It was about control. It was about eliminating black economic success. It was terrorism. White mobs burned her newspaper office to the ground. She received death threats. She was forced into exile and she did not stop. Ida Wells traveled the country and then the world, documenting lynchings with names, dates, locations, and methods. She used statistics when America preferred myth. She named perpetrators when the system protected anonymity. She dismantled the lie that these killings were spontaneous or rare. She embarrassed the United States on the global stage. Even within the suffrage movement, she faced racism.

3:39 White suffragists asked her to march at the back during parades. She refused. She understood that liberation divided by race was not liberation at all. Ida B. Wells never softened her language to make others comfortable. She believed discomfort was necessary. She believed silence was complicity. Today, when we talk about investigative journalism, about naming systems of violence, about refusing to let victims be reduced to rumors, Ida Wells is to blueprint. She didn't just tell stories, she created records that made denial impossible. I can tell you now when it comes to investigative journalism, Ida B.

4:19 Wells is the top of her game, and a lot of investigative journalists who are ethical do take some things from Ida B. Wells. I am one of them. Every time I tell a story, I can feel her presence. And I hope that every journalist that reports the news has the integrity of Ida B. Wells. Alright, guys, thank you for joining me for this one. Hope you enjoyed this fact. I know you have many choices in true crime and interview podcasts, and I am grateful that I am one of your choices. You have been listening to the only three-faceted podcast of its kind. Be good to yourself and each other.

5:00 And always remember, always stay humbled. An act of kindness can make someone's day. A little love and compassion can go a long way. And remember that there is an extraordinary person in all of us. I'll catch you guys on the next one. Don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe. Join us on social media. One link to the Link Tree has it all. Feel free to drop us a line at TrueCrime and Authors at gmail.com. Sound mixing and editing by David McClellan. Intro script by Sophie Wilde and David McLam. Theme Music Legendary by New Alchemist.

5:43 Introduction and Ending Credits by Jackie Voice. See you next time on True Crime Authors and Extraordinary People.