Tag Archives: Ida B. Wells

A Red Record Redux

Posted on May 30, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Ida B. Wells-Barnett, in A Red Record (1895), about the bloody murders of Black people at the hands of white people, lists three “excuses” white people gave for the wholesale murder of Black people by whites. The excuses are: …the … Continue reading →

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Advancing Alice Walker — and Her Nonfiction

Posted on April 11, 2024 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

I have a love-hate relationship with the body of work of Alice Walker.  I love Walker’s nonfiction, and even some of her autobiographical sketches, where her prose, even when it is expressing anger, is righteous anger.  Her nonfiction is clear, … Continue reading →

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Ida B. Wells: The Black Woman Crusader Against White Knights

Posted on March 4, 2022 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

Ida B. Wells was born into slavery on July 16, 1862.  She was “freed” by presidential proclamation and executive order (the Emancipation Proclamation) issued by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862, during the American Civil War. Ida B. Wells … Continue reading →

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On this day in history, May 27, 1892 — White Mob Destroys Ida B. Wells’s Newspaper Office in Memphis, Tennessee

Posted on May 27, 2018 by William Eric Waters, aka Easy Waters

After three of her friends were lynched in March 1892, Ida B. Wells became an outspoken activist against white vigilantes’ frequent murders of black people and terrorism of black communities. A 29-year-old black schoolteacher in Memphis, Tennessee, Ms. Wells was … Continue reading →

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