1. “One had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap.” – Ida B. Wells
2. “Love, Peace, and taco grease!” – Ida B. Wells
3. “There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it.” – Ida B. Wells
4. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and it does seem to me that notwithstanding all these social agencies and activities there is not that vigilance which should be exercised in the preservation of our rights.” – Ida B. Wells
5. “The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press.” – Ida B. Wells
6. “Our country’s national crime is lynching. It is not the creature of an hour, the sudden outburst of uncontrolled fury, or the unspeakable brutality of an insane mob.” – Ida B. Wells
7. “Virtue knows no color line, and the chivalry which depends upon complexion of skin and texture of hair can command no honest respect.” – Ida B. Wells
8. “Can you remain silent and inactive when such things are done in our own community and country?” – Ida B. Wells
9. “What becomes a crime deserving capital punishment when the tables are turned is a matter of small moment when the negro woman is the accusing party.” – Ida B. Wells
10. “There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms.” – Ida B. Wells
11. “The very frequent inquiry made after my lectures by interested friends is ‘What can I do to help the cause?’ The answer always is: ‘Tell the world the facts.’” – Ida B. Wells
12. “Those who commit the murders write the reports.” – Ida B. Wells
13. “The white man’s victory soon became complete by fraud, violence, intimidation and murder.” – Ida B. Wells
14. “It was always a remarkable feature in these insurrections and riots that only Negroes were killed during the rioting, and that all the white men escaped unharmed.” – Ida B. Wells
15. “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” – Ida B. Wells
16. “A Winchester rifle should have a place of honor in every black home, and it should be used for that protection which the law refuses to give.” – Ida B. Wells
17. “The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the crowd.” – Ida B. Wells
18. “The appetite grows for what it feeds on.” – Ida B. Wells
19. “It is extremely rough to follow through with my goals, but I felt a responsibility to show the world what the African Americans are facing through this rough patch.” – Ida B. Wells
20. “When the Christian world knows the alarming growth and extent of outlawry in our land, some means will be found to stop it.” – Ida B. Wells
21. “I came home every Friday afternoon, riding the six miles on the back of a big mule. I spent Saturday and Sunday washing and ironing and cooking for the children and went back to my country school on Sunday afternoon.” – Ida B. Wells
22. “No nation, savage or civilized, save only the United States of America, has confessed its inability to protect its women save by hanging, shooting, and burning alleged offenders.” – Ida B. Wells
23. “I am only a mouthpiece through which to tell the story of lynching and I have told it so often that I know it by heart. I do not have to embellish; it makes its own way.” – Ida B. Wells
24. “The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense.” – Ida B. Wells
25. “Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.” – Ida B. Wells
26. “The matter came up for judicial investigation, but as might have been expected, the white people concluded it was unnecessary to wait the result of the investigation—that it was preferable to hang the accused first and try him afterward.” – Ida B. Wells
27. “The more I studied the situation, the more I was convinced that the Southerner had never gotten over his resentment that the Negro was no longer his plaything, his servant, and his source of income.” – Ida B. Wells
28. “The appeal to the white man’s pocket has ever been more effectual than all the appeals ever made to his conscience.” – Ida B. Wells
29. “If this work can contribute in any way toward proving this, and at the same time arouse the conscience of the American people to a demand for justice to every citizen, and punishment by law for the lawless, I shall feel I have done my race a service.” – Ida B. Wells
30. “I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap. I had already determined to sell my life as dearly as possible if attacked. I felt if I could take one lyncher with me, this would even up the score a little bit.” – Ida B. Wells
31. “In fact, for all kinds of offenses – and, for no offenses – from murders to misdemeanors, men and women are put to death without judge or jury; so that, although the political excuse was no longer necessary, the wholesale murder of human beings went on just the same.” – Ida B. Wells
32. “It is a well-established principle of law that every wrong has a remedy. Herein rests our respect for law.” – Ida B. Wells
33. “I honestly believe I am the only woman in the United States who ever traveled throughout the country with a nursing baby to make political speeches.” – Ida B. Wells
34. “Brave men do not gather by thousands to torture and murder a single individual, so gagged and bound he cannot make even feeble resistance or defense.” – Ida B. Wells
35. “The appetite grows for what it feeds on.” – Ida B. Wells