Black Leaders

Black Leaders of the Late 19th/Early 20th Centuries There is no denying that the ultimate goal of the Negro race at the turn of the 20th century was for eventual desegregation and political freedom. Many activists for the cause included Ida B. Wells, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. These three men and women, each had a unique look at state of their people and each went about the pursuit of freedom in a different way. The following will take a closer look at each of these activists and see just exactly what their views were and the way each proposed going about achieving their goals.

Ida B. Wells is unique in her own right. Not only was she a Negro whom spoke out against the inhumanities preformed against the southern blacks, she was also a women. Wells was outraged at the lynching of the blacks and urged blacks to take a stand.

DuBois, Pennsylvania

DuBois, Pennsylvania

Ida B. Wells Barnett

She preached that blacks were not horrible people, rather they were unjustly sought out and lynched without due process. She argued that whites committed crimes, just as the blacks did, but no action was taken against them. She believed in the press, but only the black press.

"The Afro-American papers are the only ones winch will print the truth, and they lack means to employ agents and detectives to get the facts. The re must rally a mighty host to the support of the journals, and thus enable them to do much in the way of investigation…"--Ida B. Wells Wells sought for industrial action against the whites in the South so that they could feel the loss of productivity and profit. If the Negroes boycotted, financial difficulty would be felt and the whites would recognize just how important the Negroes were. Her actions were...