Trailblazer, icon and media mogul Ida. B Wells earned a posthumous Pulitzer Prize honor for special citation. The announcement was made earlier this afternoon along with other award announcements. Joining Wells, Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times, poet Jericho Brown and Michael R. Jackson were honored for their excellence in journalism and arts.
Congratulations to the family of the late #IdaBWells, including @MichelleDuster. #Pulitzer pic.twitter.com/mwraSup4lo
— The Pulitzer Prizes (@PulitzerPrizes) May 4, 2020
Born in Mississippi in 1862, Wells is one of the founders of the NAACP, a teacher and academic. Throughout her life, she sue journalism as a way to highlight the violence and racism impacting Black Americans across the country. Most notably, her 1893 work, A Red Record, offered an in-depth and personal look at lynchings taking place across America. In addition to writing, Wells business savvy allowed her to become one of the premier Black pushers of the 20th century. In her lifetime, she owned newspapers and periodicals such as the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight.
“I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap,” she said.
Wells passed away in Chicago at 68 years old. She left behind a legacy worth of a Pulitzer Prize and so much more.
