Reviewed by Nicole Sealey

In most historical accounts, Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) is placed in the context of the movements for which she tirelessly advocated—a paragraph or two that, at best, condensed and diluted Wells’ countless contributions. With Ida: A Sword Among Lions, however, Paula J. Giddings, acclaimed author of When and Where I Enter and In Search of Sisterhood, ambitiously attempts to write what no other historian has ever written: an encyclopedic biography about Ida B. Wells. In this comprehensive portrait, the movements in which Wells was a part are placed in context of her life. She is the protagonist rather than a stand-in within this true story that is told with the grace, fortitude, and integrity for which Wells was known.

Born to Mississippi slaves, Wells was no stranger to struggle. Her mother and father died of yellow fever when she was just 16 years old. Upon their death, family friends met to determine the living arrangements of the six Wells children. Without consulting the children, the group decided to place them in separate homes. This decision was unacceptable to the eldest Wells child, Ida. She, with help from her temporary guardians, secured a teaching position.

Wells worked intently, but was unable to keep her young family under one roof. She eventually moved to Memphis, Tennessee with her sisters Lily and Annie. Giddings notes, “Ida believed that God…had put her through these ‘trials’ in order to ‘fit her for his kingdom.’” This would not be the last time Wells would have to deal with disappointment and loss. But, she coped with frustration and misfortune in the same way she approached activism—with hope and determination.

In 1883, more than 70 years before Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat aboard an Alabama bus, 21-year-old schoolteacher Ida B. Wells refused to move to the train car designated for black passengers. The conductor, with the help of two other men, forced her from her seat. Instead of relocating to the designated car, Wells got off at the next train stop. In 1884, Wells sued the Chesapeake, Ohio, and Southwestern Railroad for the equal accommodation violation she had suffered, and won. Wells was, as the biography suggests, the winner of precedent-setting political battles in and outside the courts.

By the late 1800s, Wells had become an established journalist and editor—writing about social issues including her train car experience some years before. Realizing the expansiveness of the media, Wells bought part-ownership in Free Speech, a Memphis-based black newspaper, and became co-editor. Free Speech was a platform on which she editorialized the barbarity of lynching and publicized anti-lynching campaigns. A woman of steadfast resolve, she risked life and limb to report on the hate-inspired horrors.

Based on the mere accusation of criminality or the slightest assumption of social indiscretion, black men, women, and children were kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by vigilante white mobs. The offense and the punishment were decided at the discretion of the mob. Blacks had neither legal recourse nor political arena in which to make a case against the atrocities. Thomas Moss, a close friend of Wells, was lynched (along with two of his business partners) in 1892. Moss’ crime: opening his own grocery store which proved competition for neighboring white businesses. After Moss’ lynching, Wells urged, through Free Speech, black Memphians to relocate.

Best known for her work in the anti-lynching campaigns she spearheaded, Wells’ open-minded sentiments about equality and justice were enigmatic to many. Black and white reform organizations alike were distrustful of Wells’ progressively inclusive philosophy. The black organizations disagreed with her views on class, while the white organizations opposed her attitudes about race. In the end, both sides failed to give Wells her proper due. Ida: A Sword Among Lions makes up for their slight. David Levering Lewis reiterates, “Paula Giddings’s monumental achievement restores this extraordinary contrarian to her place as one of the grand pace-setters of American social justice and female empowerment.”

Paula J. Giddings’ Ida: A Sword Among Lions is the first thorough exploration of Ida B. Wells, a woman who set the standard for social commentary. Using the media as a tool to not only inform but to also uplift, Wells wrote selflessly about injustice. Giddings meticulously examines the life of a woman who has left an indelible mark on the ways in which we think about and treat advocacy. “Paula Giddings has written a book as priceless as its subject,” said Toni Morrison. Ida: A Sword Among Lions is a well-written, welcomed biography.