Ida B. Wells

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

“A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.”

“The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.”

“Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even an incoherent protest.”

“Our country's national crime is lynching.”

“Virtue knows no color line, and the chivalry which depends upon complexion of skin and texture of hair can command no honest respect.”

“The appeal to the white man’s pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience.”

“I'd rather go down fighting than die silent.”

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

“The city of Memphis has demonstrated that neither character nor standing avails the Negro if he dares to protect himself against the white man or become his rival.”

“The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense.”

“Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.”

“The doors of churches, hotels, concert halls and reading rooms are alike closed against the Negro as a man, but every place is open to him as a servant.”

“If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen... I shall feel I have done my race a service.”

“The mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American.”