This contemporized portrait of Ida B. Wells, an icon of the struggle for women’s rights and racial equality, has been compiled by her great-granddaughter, Michelle Duster, herself an activist and journalist.

Ida B. Wells was born into slavery during the Civil War. By the time she was 21 and working as a teacher, her personal experience became the motivation for a lifetime of advocacy for Black Americans and challenge of white authority. Riding in the “ladies’ car” of a commuter train to get to and from her employment, she was ordered to go to the “colored” car. She physically fought with conductors as white passengers looked on and cheered her opponents.

"Duster’s brightly illustrated book is a laudable amalgam of her great-grandmother’s achievements and indomitable spirit melded with the names and deeds of other activists who have followed in her footsteps..."

Wells continued to take the ladies’ car until she was confronted once again, initiated a lawsuit and eventually won $500, a huge sum at the time, and gained “one of the greatest gifts she could have imagined” --- a newspaper article about her victory.

She would go on to edit, have part ownership in and write scathing reports of racial injustice for a pioneering newspaper, and march and fight for women’s suffrage even as she was ignored or held out of the limelight by white leaders. She wrote to and boldly visited President Wilson, a noted segregationist; was one of the outspoken founders of the NAACP; and authored numerous articles and made memorable speeches decrying the treatment of her fellow Black citizens, drawing attention to lynchings and the unequal treatment of Blacks in the military.

After she passed away in 1931, her name and accomplishments gradually gained recognition, with historical markers, films and other tributes.

Duster’s brightly illustrated book is a laudable amalgam of her great-grandmother’s achievements and indomitable spirit melded with the names and deeds of other activists who have followed in her footsteps, each generally accompanied by simple, vivid color portraits and salutary short essays. These include such well-known political groundbreakers as Stacey Abrams, Maxine Waters and Kamala Harris, mavericks like Bree Newsome and Colin Kaepernick, and celebrated figures like Medgar Evers and Jesse Jackson. Much of the activism and professional action of these notables had roots in the foundations and the fights instigated and supported by Wells in the previous century.

Duster believes that Ida B. Wells is “a giant in our country’s history,” whose dedication to civil and human rights invoked benefits that are and will continue to be appreciated and admired.