Ida Bell Wells-Barnett commonly known as Ida B Wells was one of the nation 's most vocal anti-lynch activist of her time.(Steptoe) It all started when three of her African American friends were lynched after they opened up a store, the People’s Grocery, which competed well with a white owned grocery store nearby. A white mob attacked the People’s Grocery and three white men were injured, the owners of the store were then jailed when they were later broken out and lynched. This infuriated Wells and she wrote after the incident urging African Americans to leave Memphis, “There is, therefore, only one thing left to do; save our money and leave a town which will neither protect our lives and property, nor give us a fair trial in the courts, but takes us out and murders us in cold blood when accused by white persons.” This caused some 6,000 African-Americans to leave Memphis while others started boycotts on white businesses.(Wikipedia)
This incident caused Wells to begin her research into lynchings. She concluded that African Americans were lynched "for such social control reasons as failing to pay debts, not appearing to give way to whites, competing with whites economically, and being
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(Wikipedia) According to the Washington post, “Researchers said they determined that 3,959 black people were killed in “racial terror lynchings” in a dozen Southern states between 1877 and 1950.”(Bernman) According to the National Park Service Wells "By documenting lynchings across the country, she raised awareness and challenged alleged white "superiority."(National Park