Ida B. Wells-Barnett participated in battles that she knew she would lose. It didn’t stop her from doing what she believed was right. She was motivated by a firm sense of justice. Yet her uncompromising nature at times intimidated people.
At the turn of the 20th century, Wells-Barnett and her husband, Ferdinand Lee Barnett, were leaders in Chicago’s growing Black community. The city had become a center for anti-Bookerites. Anti-Bookerites were people who did not support Black activist Booker T. Washington and his viewpoints.
Washington was an educator and speaker who had emerged as a spokesperson for Black America. He believed that education was the best way for African Americans to make progress over time. As principal of the Tuskegee Institute
