Of one who was ready and able to lead,
Who set the nation on fire with her pace
And the heroine will be the queen of our race Bettiola H. Fortson, “Queen of Our Race,” 1915
Ida B. Wells, the queen indeed. She was a journalist, suffragist, anti-lynching crusader and one of the most famous Black women in America from the 1890s into the early 20th century. The FBI labeled her a “dangerous Negro agitator” for reporting on the horrors of lynchings and writing searing editorials about systemic racism against Black Americans. A co-founder of the NAACP in 1909, Wells railed against racism, segregation and sexism at every turn.