[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.64,0:00:02.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's something irresistible about
Dialogue: 0,0:00:02.24,0:00:03.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,underdog stories,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.12,0:00:04.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where remarkable people rise
Dialogue: 0,0:00:04.33,0:00:05.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from humble beginnings
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.51,0:00:08.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to do incredible things against all the odds.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.31,0:00:10.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But few stories are as dramatic as that of
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.63,0:00:11.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ida B. Wells.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:11.91,0:00:13.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A woman who was born a slave in Mississippi,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.99,0:00:15.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in the midst of the Civil War,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:15.37,0:00:17.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and became a daring investigative reporter
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.53,0:00:19.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and civil rights crusader,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:19.51,0:00:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who would one day be called
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.49,0:00:22.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"the loudest and most persistent voice for truth"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.57,0:00:24.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in an era of injustice.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.62,0:00:25.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From an early age, Wells carried
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.96,0:00:28.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exceptional burdens with exceptional courage.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:28.32,0:00:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She became the head of her household
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.80,0:00:31.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the age of 16 when both her parents
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.42,0:00:33.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,died suddenly from yellow fever.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:33.58,0:00:35.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In order to support her five brothers and sisters,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:35.79,0:00:37.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she curtailed her education and started working
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.67,0:00:39.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a school teacher in rural Mississippi.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.20,0:00:42.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When she was 21 years old,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:42.07,0:00:43.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells boarded a train to Memphis
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.30,0:00:45.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and seated herself in the first-class ladies car,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.90,0:00:47.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,only to be told that black women were restricted
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.88,0:00:49.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to second class.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.41,0:00:51.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not only did she bite the conductor who tried
Dialogue: 0,0:00:51.77,0:00:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to remove her, she soon filed a discrimination
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.70,0:00:55.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,lawsuit against the railroad company.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.27,0:00:57.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She won the initial case,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.43,0:00:59.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and while it was overturned on appeal,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.06,0:01:00.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an article she wrote about the experience
Dialogue: 0,0:01:00.62,0:01:02.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,helped launch her career as a journalist.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.25,0:01:05.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells' life changed forever in 1892,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.59,0:01:07.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when her friend, Thomas Moss, was murdered
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.11,0:01:08.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by a white mob in Memphis
Dialogue: 0,0:01:08.45,0:01:10.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,along with two other black men.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.22,0:01:12.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Their brutal killings inspired Wells to speak out
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.46,0:01:14.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,against the horrors of lynching,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:14.17,0:01:16.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an increasingly common tool of terror
Dialogue: 0,0:01:16.08,0:01:17.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,used against black people in the decades
Dialogue: 0,0:01:17.70,0:01:19.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,after the Civil War.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:19.92,0:01:21.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Black men were often falsely accused of rape
Dialogue: 0,0:01:21.61,0:01:23.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in order to justify their murders.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:23.51,0:01:24.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But in a series of widely-read
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.71,0:01:26.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,articles and pamphlets,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:26.09,0:01:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells argued that lynching had little to do
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.06,0:01:29.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with protecting the honor of women,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.37,0:01:31.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and everything to do with protecting the power of
Dialogue: 0,0:01:31.52,0:01:33.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,southern white men.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:33.35,0:01:34.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like so many civil rights leaders who would
Dialogue: 0,0:01:34.94,0:01:36.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,follow in her footsteps, including the
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.43,0:01:38.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,civil rights leaders of today,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:38.01,0:01:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her criticisms were powerful because
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.64,0:01:40.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they took aim not just
Dialogue: 0,0:01:40.64,0:01:42.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the misdeeds of individuals,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:42.34,0:01:44.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but at the unexamined institutions of racism
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.70,0:01:46.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and power behind them.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.06,0:01:48.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her groundbreaking analysis changed
Dialogue: 0,0:01:48.09,0:01:49.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the national conversation around lynching,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.83,0:01:52.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ever her future mentor, Frederick Douglass
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.23,0:01:53.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,called his writing on the subject
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.23,0:01:55.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"feeble" in comparison.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:55.49,0:01:56.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells was the co-owner and editor of
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.84,0:01:58.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a black newspaper in Memphis.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.43,0:01:59.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After one of her anti-lynching articles
Dialogue: 0,0:01:59.97,0:02:01.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,displeased the white community,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.86,0:02:04.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,an angry mob stormed the office of the paper
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.15,0:02:05.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and destroyed it.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:05.60,0:02:06.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Faced with death threats,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.47,0:02:08.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells started carrying a pistol in her purse,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.80,0:02:10.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but refused to back down from her
Dialogue: 0,0:02:10.30,0:02:11.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,anti-lynching campaign.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.62,0:02:13.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She said it was better to die
Dialogue: 0,0:02:13.51,0:02:14.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fighting against injustice,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:14.84,0:02:17.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:17.83,0:02:19.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After that, she relocated to New York,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.89,0:02:21.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where she began to publish investigative
Dialogue: 0,0:02:21.53,0:02:23.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,journalism for an even larger audience,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.06,0:02:25.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including pamphlets that collected statistical
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.82,0:02:27.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,documentation of lynching in the South.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.23,0:02:29.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her popular anti-lynching speeches
Dialogue: 0,0:02:29.90,0:02:31.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eventually took her to Britain,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.25,0:02:33.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where white audiences seemed far more
Dialogue: 0,0:02:33.17,0:02:34.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,outraged than many of their
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.26,0:02:35.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,American counterparts.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.95,0:02:37.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Her overseas speaking tour inspired
Dialogue: 0,0:02:37.64,0:02:39.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,international condemnation of lynching,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.36,0:02:42.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly from British newspapers and politicians.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.67,0:02:44.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And elevated Wells to the most visible national
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.62,0:02:46.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leader in the anti-lynching movement.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.20,0:02:48.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although Wells often criticized herself
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.99,0:02:51.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for being stubborn and hot-tempered,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.03,0:02:53.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,those same qualities made her a fiery orator
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.10,0:02:55.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a relentless crusader against injustice.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.76,0:02:57.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Faced with death threats from southern Whites
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.40,0:02:59.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and criticism from moderate black reformers,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.95,0:03:01.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who considered her too radical,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:01.61,0:03:03.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells refused to compromise her ideals
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.59,0:03:05.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for the sake of comfort, convenience,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.30,0:03:07.03,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or even personal safety.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:07.48,0:03:09.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"The way to right wrongs is to turn
Dialogue: 0,0:03:09.17,0:03:10.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the light of truth upon them,"
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.17,0:03:12.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wrote Wells, who never failed to speak
Dialogue: 0,0:03:12.26,0:03:14.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unpleasant truths even when it cost her friends
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.40,0:03:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or potential allies.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.86,0:03:17.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although surrounded by hostility and threats
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.70,0:03:19.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from people who wanted to punish
Dialogue: 0,0:03:19.01,0:03:20.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her outspokenness because of
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.01,0:03:21.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,her race and her gender,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:21.51,0:03:23.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she refused to be silenced.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:24.28,0:03:25.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although she fought for women's rights,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.88,0:03:28.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells was often disappointed by white suffragists
Dialogue: 0,0:03:28.22,0:03:30.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who considered racial issues a distraction
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.14,0:03:32.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the fight against sexism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.19,0:03:34.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some even endorsed segregation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.38,0:03:36.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,During the famous women's suffrage parade of 1913,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.94,0:03:39.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when black women were told to walk at the back,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:39.18,0:03:41.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells simply waited until the march started
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.42,0:03:44.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and defiantly joined her states' delegation.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.32,0:03:46.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Similarly, she was frustrated by those in the
Dialogue: 0,0:03:46.92,0:03:49.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,black community who saw women's rights as
Dialogue: 0,0:03:49.00,0:03:51.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unimportant to the fight against racism.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:51.49,0:03:53.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Caught between the struggles of her race and her gender,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.81,0:03:56.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells often felt like she fought alone.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.06,0:03:59.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Although she had many suitors,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.48,0:04:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and withstood enormous social pressure to marry,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.78,0:04:03.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Wells remained single throughout her twenties.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.66,0:04:06.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In her early 30s, she finally met her match
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.07,0:04:07.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Ferdinand Barnett,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.57,0:04:09.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a black lawyer who was equally passionate about
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.76,0:04:11.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,social justice and a man who wholeheartedly
Dialogue: 0,0:04:11.98,0:04:13.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,supported her career.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.44,0:04:15.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They married and had four children together
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.46,0:04:17.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and while Wells would eventually step down
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.19,0:04:19.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from her full-time position as a newspaper editor,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.72,0:04:21.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,she continued her work as a reformer
Dialogue: 0,0:04:21.44,0:04:24.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,until the day she died.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:24.10,0:04:26.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When she passed away in 1931 at the age of 69,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.91,0:04:29.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Ida B. Wells had profoundly changed the way that
Dialogue: 0,0:04:29.22,0:04:30.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people had looked at race, gender,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:30.99,0:04:32.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and violence in America.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.37,0:04:34.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She transformed herself from a slave who was
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.18,0:04:35.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,regarded as property,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:35.68,0:04:37.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to someone once described as a
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.10,0:04:39.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,woman who walked as if she owned the world.