Ida B. Wells was born into slavery in Mississippi on July 16, 1862, less than a year before the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 freed enslaved people. After moving to Tennessee when she was about 20, Wells began writing for Black newspapers, speaking out against segregated schools—which which forced Black children to go to separate schools—and other forms of discrimination in the southern states. But after a friend was killed by a mob of white people, Wells knew more had to be done.
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