As of lately, I have been very interested in documentaries and films based on true stories. I find these films so compelling to watch because I feel as if I am still learning about something important. I find historical documentaries, like this one, especially important because when we are reminded of terrible events that happened we are less likely to repeat them.
This film detailed the entire life of Ida B. Wells. One of the things I felt most interesting about the film was Ida’s first experience with racism and prejudice. She had bought a first class train ticket and was asked to move to another car by the conductor. She refused to move and was physically removed from the train by several men and the conductor. This firsthand experience with racism sparked her passion for equal treatment. She later sued the rail company and won her lawsuit. The film also detailed why Wells became a literary activist. Lynching was a practice that was quite common in many southern states post Reconstruction Era. This practice was also considered a state issue so there was no national demand for the practice to be stopped. Considering that white men dominated print at that time, the narrative behind why lynchings occurred always placed the blame on the black victim. The typical reason would be disrespecting or assaulting white women. No one really questioned the validity of these lynchings, not even Ida B. Wells herself. It wasn’t until two of her friends were lynched that she began to do research of her own to find out the truth behind why this had happened. Her research not only proved that the reasoning behind her friends and many other mens lynchings were false, but it also showcased this the raw truth of this heinous action for the whole country. I was inspired to watch this news because of the recent killings of black men by police and our presidents response to it. President Trump recently made a statement saying that these acts of police brutality should be handled as a state issue and not a national one. That statement truly angered me because it is reminiscent of the lynchings that occurred in the past . I loved this film. I truly feel that it is an important documentary for anyone to see, especially with the current issue of police brutality that we see in the news today.