By Rebecca LaMar- Author, Activist, Educator
Ida’s Message, Magic and Methods: Perspective from an ICON I haven’t spent enough time in this space capturing all of the greats that have come before and engaged with the world about the divisive ways social injustice. IDA B. WELLS was a remarkable great, and a powerhouse in her right. AS a fierce educator and writer, she used the pen as a sword to rock the mindset of the oppressors and the oppressed in the action of lynching. Ida was one of the original founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). And she was born into slavery, with the emancipation proclamation happening in her early years, she witnessed the misinterpretations of this act in the south, and then fled to NY to find her place in the activism fight. She married Ferdinand Barnett in 1898. Ida and Ferdinand had four children. She ran for the Illinois state senate in 1930, but lost. And quite possibly one of my favorite facts is that, she started the first African-American kindergarten in Chicago. Defining Lynching and its place in history: Pulling this right from www.naacp.org lynching can be defined as: A lynching is the public killing of an individual who has not received any due process. These executions were often carried out by lawless mobs, though police officers did participate, under the pretext of justice. Lynchings were violent public acts that white people used to terrorize and control Black people in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the South. Lynchings typically evoke images of Black men and women hanging from trees, but they involved other extreme brutality, such as torture, mutilation, decapitation, and desecration. Some victims were burned alive. (how ironic that the term lynchings came up as a grammatical error, as if to say informally, we don’t write that word…just a humble reminder of why we need to know our past to live in the present) For context, lets remember that Lynching is an act that while not condoned by our government, it took them a mighty long time to create some legislation to ensure that this isn’t happening.
One component of the concept of lynching, is its drive to serve as a way of entertaining or “educating” the public about what happens to those who don’t follow the “rules.” It is critical to understand that while the United States government did not hold the lynchings, they turned a blind eye to the lynchings, essentially, removing any consequence for any angry man, woman or mob from engaging in this act. This meant that it didn’t matter how you were involved, it was ok that you took it upon yourself to get involved. I should also note, that this is not the first time that the united states government has given a blind eye to race related societal norms. It makes much more sense, based on historical recollection, that the U.S. government had and has no intention of setting the societal protocol of intolerance for intolerance. As we consider how the public is always game for a good show, we also need to remember that he government has protocols in lace for what the public can be exposed to, you may be familiar with the FCC, or the Federal Communications commission, who are the regulators of things like censorship rights and movie ratings. If the government felt so compelled to regulate how and what the public to view, I find it incredibly telling that as we embark on the idea of “net neutrality” or more simply put, free internet for all, our government has spent a lot of time regulating how to say the message, but not nearly enough time on the message itself. A little background on the FCC, pulled from Mitel.com : Regulating communications in the United States has been going on since the Radio Act of 1912. The military, emergency responders, police, and entertainment companies all wanted to be able to get their signals out over the airwaves to the right audiences without interference. The Radio Act of 1912 helped to establish a commission that would designate which airwaves would be for public use and which airwaves would be reserved for the various commercial users who needed them. In 1926, the Federal Radio Commission was established to help handle the growing complexities of the country's radio needs. In 1934, Congress passed the Communications Act, which replaced the Federal Radio Commission with the Federal Communications Commission. The absence of Due process: Due process, is a lot older that I had originally thought. Turns out, in my re-history lesson, that this is an Anglo-orgin practice from the 13th century of England. Due process of law is a constitutional guarantee that prevents governments from impacting citizens in an abusive way. Today, we see due process include both the legislation and standards for assessing, protecting and keeping “freeman” in their country. The U.S. Library of Congress, shares that, “It traces its origins to Chapter 39 of King John’s Magna Carta, which provides that no freeman will be seized, dispossessed of his property, or harmed except “by the law of the land,” an expression that referred to customary practices of the court.” Two major constitutional Amendments closely outline where and when due process occurs. In the eyes of the public watching lynchings, they were under the impression that this was standard practice in making sure that their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness was not being affected by the “lawless” who did not care to understand or commit to their place in the world is less than a man. While the government was egregious in their handling of lynchings, we continue to see this at play today. How can our government possibly set the standard of being Anti-racist, when we are nt exposed to the full truth of ho racism began. Racism is all about levering your prejudice perspective by us of power of control.(force). SO how can we possibly plan for a society where racism doesn’t exist, when most americans do not comprehend their ancestorial roots to the demeaning and tormenting of a population that through laws and the absence of laws has and will continue to be portrayed as a “less than?” In a recent journey down south, I was privileged enough to top by Montgomery Alabama and visit the Legacy Museum and the National memorial for Peace and Justice, created by the Equal Justice Initiative. This organization spend countless time, energy and dollars, researching, restoring and preserving full collection of Black America history, including lynching. My visit the the memorial really gave perspective to the idea of; when you have all of the information, you need to do something with it. In the memorial, there are hundreds, if not thousands of steel slabs hanging and laying in peace that share the location, including county and state of those that have been lynched. Hundreds of names are listed from 12-15 counties in Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. And yet, we are only now starting to hear about some reconciliation, or restitution for those who were murdered publicly, with so many humans watching and not doing SHIT. My personal experience while visiting the National Memorial for Justice d Peace and the Legacy Museum, where life changing. I was able to see how someone (Brian Stevenson Esq.) who became so empowered by what was happening, that he and a squad raised awareness, funds and projects to support the premise to remediate social injustice by “any means necessary.” That concept of “by any means necessary,” comes from the words of many civil rights leaders during the Black Liberation Movement and Black Lives Matter. The Equal Justice Initiative, or EJI, was founded by Bryn Stevenson in the late 80s. The movie, “Just Mercy” captures much of his early life that lead up to the establishment of EJI. In their own words, “The Equal Justice Initiative, is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.” (https://eji.org/about/ ) The museum really explains the why of the effort, and then the memorial solidifies the “who” that EJI ultimately does this work on behalf. PA Based incident waiting for justice Some might be surprised to find that there are 2 recorded lynches that occurred in Pennsylvania. AS per the dated documentation, (most documentation of lynching is found off of the grid, no in your libraries or the internet. Not only is it not good record keeping, key factors seem intentionally left out.) Dandes (2018) highlighted some details of the lynchings in a local PA paper listing these details, after interviewing a local historian: In Monroe County, Moore said, a railroad worker, Richard Puryear allegedly robbed and shot someone in March 1894. He escaped from jail and was hunted down by a mob of 50 people, who hung him from a tree. Chester County was the scene of a bleak moment in American history. In 1911, an African American steelworker allegedly shot a security guard. He was caught, wounded and was hospitalized. A mob took him out of the hospital, took him to an open field and burned him to death. A reported 3,000 people, including women and children, watched the lynching, Moore said. Updated records do now show local acknowledgement of the event in Coatesville, when the family of Zachariah Walker had a historical marker erected at the site in 2006. At this point, no known efforts for acknowledgment have occurred beyond historical research for Richard Puryear. Call to Action: I continue to channel and request IDA’s spirit as I continue her legacy. Ida once said that "the people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare to the press." As an educator for educators, I wonder how we can begin to add our own pieces of facts and rights about the true history of america, so that the voters that come behind us, my recognize how legislation pay a critical and foundational piece to remember our complete past, make peace with the wrongdoing, and take accountability to change the future. I ask Educators this summer to be in tune with current events, and re-read some history. Share your stories of awakening with your friends and colleagues. Remember your story matters and can make am impact! Resources: https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/history-lynching-america https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/yes-anti-lynching-laws-are-mostly-symbolic-thats-what-makes-them-important/2021/10/28/6bd7feea-3744-11ec-9bc4-86107e7b0ab1_story.html https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/magna-carta-muse-and-mentor/due-process-of-law.html Eij.org Special resources for educators to share: https://www.ducksters.com/history/civil_rights/ida_b_wells.php https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-3DB
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