Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi to her father James, a slave carpenter, and mother Elisabeth, a slave cook. Her birth came six months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation. Although she herself never functionally served as a slave, her parents remained working for their master. At sixteen, Wells was orphaned, as a wave of yellow fever took the lives of her parents and several siblings. Devastated, Wells turned to education as a means to shape her life. In Memphis, Tennessee, Wells taught as a school teacher for twenty five dollars a month. Although this wage was meager at best, Wells was able to find stability and thus could provide for herself and her younger siblings. This feat, in and of itself can be considered remarkable. Yet, Wells was not satisfied, as she “slowly but steadily [moved] away from the profession of teaching towards journalism” (page 99, “They Say”). Wells sought to challenge the patriarchy. Accordingly, Wells began writing for the Negro Press Association. Soon, Wells found herself as a weekly editor for the Evening Star, and then of Living Way, writing under the alias “Iola.” Shortly, Well’s stories could be read throughout black America, emphatically
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In 1884, while traveling to Nashville, in the ladies‘ car, Wells was forcibly extracted and moved into a rustic, degenerate, colored-only car, despite her proof of purchase for a first class ticket. Naturally, Wells sued. She went on to win her case and settlement of five hundred dollars. However, the very institution of racism Wells wrote of all too often overturned the verdict. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wells had to pay court costs for two hundred dollars and although Wells had begun to collect generational wealth granting her to afford such a fee, the mere shock and unfairness of the ordeal sparked a mad passion to bring down the
In 1884, while traveling to Nashville, in the ladies‘ car, Wells was forcibly extracted and moved into a rustic, degenerate, colored-only car, despite her proof of purchase for a first class ticket. Naturally, Wells sued. She went on to win her case and settlement of five hundred dollars. However, the very institution of racism Wells wrote of all too often overturned the verdict. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wells had to pay court costs for two hundred dollars and although Wells had begun to collect generational wealth granting her to afford such a fee, the mere shock and unfairness of the ordeal sparked a mad passion to bring down the