(aka Ida Bell Wells-Barnett; aka "Pistol Packin' Mamma" b. July 16, 1862–March 25, 1931)
Civil rights activist Ida B. Wells presented the fact that African-Americans had to take law into their own hands for personal protection by baring arms in their homes since they were living in a nation that was doing little to protect them anyway: "a Winchester Rifle should have a place of honor in every black home; and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give". Wells, being an anti-lynching advocate during her time, was a firm believer in armed protection of the black race due to all of the violence that was inflicted upon them from all aspects of racism: segregation, fear tactics and murder. Later examples of injustice for blacks such as the Emmett Till* incident showed blacks had very few to count on to be on their side...the only logical solution, according to Wells and many followers, was to 'fight fire with fire' in defense.
Wells also noted one of the most effective ways to drain the powers of the white supremacy was to drain their finances. This led to several boycotts of white owned businesses that were often frequented by blacks yet still offered no reciprocating respect or even consideration: "the appeal to the white man's pocket has never been more effectual than all the appeals ever made his conscience". Ida expressed concern over the social inequalities so she also formed arguments for boycotting white businesses to hurt the racist power sufficiently: in its pocket.
*Emmett Till an African American boy from Chicago, Illinois, who was murdered at the age of 14 in Money, Mississippi, after reportedly whistling at a white woman
Buffalo Soldiers
originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
Although several African-American regiments were raised during the Civil War to fight alongside the Union Army (including the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry and the many United States Colored Troops Regiments), the "Buffalo Soldiers" were established by Congress as the first peacetime all-black regiments in the regular U.S. Army.
On September 6, 2005, Mark Matthews, who was the oldest living Buffalo Soldier, died at the age of 111. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
the nickname was given out of respect for the fierce fighting ability of the 10th cavalry; Some believe Native Americans called the black cavalry troops "buffalo soldiers" because of their dark curly hair, which resembled a buffalo's coat. Still, other sources point to a combination of both legends. The term Buffalo Soldiers became a generic term for all African-American soldiers. It is now used for U.S. Army units that trace their direct lineage back to the 9th and 10th Cavalry, units whose service earned them an honored place in U.S. history.
W.E.B. DuBoise
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois, February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963)
DuBoise emphasized the education for African-Americans on all age and scholastic levels, "intelligence, broad sympathy, knowledge for the world that was and is and of the relation [of] men to it--this is the curriculum of that Higher Education which must underlie true life." DuBoise also stipulates there is need for outright demand of social equality for Blacks in America: "We want laws enforced against rich as well as poor; against Capitalists as well as laborers; against white as well as Black."
Historian David Levering Lewis wrote, "In the course of his long, turbulent career, W. E. B. Du Bois attempted virtually every possible solution to the problem of twentieth-century racism— scholarship, propaganda, integration, national self-determination, human rights, cultural and economic separatism, politics, international communism, expatriation, third world solidarity."
In 1888 Du Bois earned a degree from Fisk University, a historically black college in Nashville, Tennessee.
Du Bois wrote many books, including three major autobiographies. Among his most significant works are The Philadelphia Negro (1899), The Souls of Black Folk (1903), John Brown (1909), Black Reconstruction (1935), and Black Folk, Then and Now (1939). His book The Negro (1915)
in his epic work Black Reconstruction, Du Bois documented how black people were central figures in the American Civil War and Reconstruction, and also showed how they made alliances with white politicians.
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