The Memphis Diary of Ida B. Wells - Critical Thinking Example

1. Do you agree with the introduction statement that "in female fashion" Wells is "always looking for a flaw in her"? Why or why not-- give specifics.

In most of her diary entries, she was always focusing on her limitations and flaws. Women only write diaries when something is wrong and the fact that she always fought for womens rights, she only fought for those rights that she could identify with. She was dissatisfied mostly with her life. For example in her diary she often wrote about the financial difficulties she underwent and the romantic missteps she made in her life. She often penned about truer self as the diary was her only sanctuary where she felt that she could physically and psychologically speak about her flaws, affirm and authorize her truer elf.

2. What have you learned that you didnt already know about Wells? Be specific.

I learned a lot about Ida B. Wells from the Memphis diary of Ida B. Wells. For example, I learned that she kept her diary because things were not going right for her. I learned that Ida B. Wells was not satisfied with most of his life and kept a dairy to document her everyday troubles and struggles to make ends meet. I have also read areas where she reflected the typical concerns that every young woman had especially considering the fact that she was talented, outspoken and vocal.

While I often considered her a feminist, and activists that found the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and the NACW which changed into the NAACP, I was surprised that she had a goals to marry one day because marriage was also her main goal. I was also surprised that she had a lot of interest in art and was particularly more interested in theaters and opera. He take from the theatre was that theatre could change despite the general argument that theatre had a very savory reputation. Her theatrical efforts as well as her recitations contributed to her prowess as a public speaker.

3. Where do you see the themes of Wells' diary entries evident in her published work (either what is included in this volume or other works of hers)? Be specific.

The main themes in her diary that are dominant in most of her published work include the lynch laws that she fought. In her publications and in her diary, injustice is a major theme and lynch law is one of the most pressing topics that she gave a lot of focus. For example, in her publication The Red Record: Tabulated Statistics and Alleged Causes of Lynching in the United States in 1895, gives a clear picture of the lynch laws in the united stated. Her activism was mainly about the injustices and inequality which were clearly explained by the racial discrimination against the people of color in a larger part of the 19th century.

4. The editors of this volume seem to see Wells first and foremost as a woman. Do you agree that that is the most important part of her identity/role? Do you think Wells would agree?

Yes. Before she became activists, she was a woman with feelings and perception and was treated as a woman before she started fighting for womens rights. The editors of this volume see to see Wells as a woman because of her interest in getting married someday. They also focus more on her beauty and the fact that men were attracted to her going by the number of suitors she attracted. The author looks at her as a young black woman bellow thirty years in a 19th century America in which women were still not considered as equal to men and at a time when then people of color were being discriminated and educationally disadvantaged. It is also clear that she become an activist when the world was still not ready for young women rights activists especially among the people of color.

5. List a few discussion questions on this collection.

1. Were there specific incidence in her life where she actually made romantic missteps because were not told that she was romantically involved with any specific man?

2. When were she and her family set free from slavery

Where was she refused a s seat that she had booked first class section and what was the consequence of her action

3. How did her involvement with the alpha suffrage club impact social issues in the 19th century America.