Born to enslaved parents on a Mississippi plantation during the Civil War, Ida B. Wells emerged as a powerful investigative journalist. She overcame death threats and published widely in her quest to document the domestic terrorism against Black Americans that came to be known as sanctioned lynching. Ida Wells published the first major study of that crime. A close associate of Frederick Douglass, she helped to found the NAACP and advocated the right to vote for women and black Americans. Her amazing life story is finally gaining recognition, nearly 90 years after her death.
Among those heard: NY Times correspondent Nikole Hannah-Jones, who led the "1619 Project" on the history of enslaved peoples in America; Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, which in 2018 established the first national memorial to victims of lynching; Smith College Prof. Paula Giddings, principal biographer of Ida B. Wells; David Blight, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom' and Yale historian. Includes readings from Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass.
Produced and narrated by David Freudberg, executive producer of Humankind at Human Media. Learn more about this documentary at: https://www.humanmedia.org/product/ida-b-wells-battle-uncover-truth/
Content Advisory: This documentary contains some sensitive and disturbing historical discussion of the Wells fight against lynching.
- KBOO