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ravenofoctober's review
5.0
This books was a slowww read for me, but for good reason: it is incredibly comprehensive. And because it discusses lynching, sometimes in great detail, it is hard to read a lot of it at once. But this is a deeply frustrating and inspiring biography of a woman who fought her whole life for her race and whose contributions were glossed over or outright forgotten even in her own lifetime. Full review to come.
readaloud_mom's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I found this thick biography to be extremely readable, though at times intense (example, be aware that there are quite a few photos of lynching victims).
Chapters were structured around the life of Wells, but spent a majority of time talking about her era /her contemporaries/the internal politics of a movement. There were also some very enjoyable excerpts of primary-source articles by Ida and her contemporaries debating each other across the editorials of multiple newspapers (in a way which reminded me sooooo much of blog-spanning internet debates today).
Chapters were structured around the life of Wells, but spent a majority of time talking about her era /her contemporaries/the internal politics of a movement. There were also some very enjoyable excerpts of primary-source articles by Ida and her contemporaries debating each other across the editorials of multiple newspapers (in a way which reminded me sooooo much of blog-spanning internet debates today).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Murder, Racism, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny, Death, Police brutality, and Racial slurs
Minor: Death of parent
mrscraftalot's review
5.0
An excellent book. It is a thoroughly readable biography of a great woman, Ida B. Wells Barnett. And, it provides a wealth of context of the period in which she lived. Highly recommended!
bowienerd_82's review against another edition
3.0
We studied Ida B. Wells' anti-lynching campaign in the history class that I took this last fall, which reminded me that I'd been meaning to read more about her. This biography, however, proved frustrating at times, as the author tended to go into excruciating detail about unimportant topics, and she wasn't always great about organizing her information in clear and compelling ways. There were whole swathes of this [not small] book taken up by descriptions of the petty rivalries in the groups Wells was part of. The book also ended perhaps a bit abruptly, without taking the time I would have wanted reflecting on Wells' life and legacy.
baghaii's review
5.0
This book about the life of Ida Wells explains a lot about how the various activists of the early twentieth century worked together and apart and which strategies were successful.
Wells devoted much of her life to getting people equal protection under the law. She pointed out that the stories about black men raping white women that were leading to lynchings were generally overblown and that most lynching victims were not accused of this type of crime.
Wells devoted much of her life to getting people equal protection under the law. She pointed out that the stories about black men raping white women that were leading to lynchings were generally overblown and that most lynching victims were not accused of this type of crime.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
5.0
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.
legxleg's review
3.0
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.
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