Ida B. Wells and Gwen Ifill: An Interview Imagined
There are certain things that leave indelible imprints on our memories — things that influence, guide, and shape the way we think, the way we live, and the way we communicate with others. I was 12 years old when I first read Crusade For Justice, The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells. Published posthumously, the engaging prose and keen intelligence of Ida B. Wells-Barnette’s groundbreaking memoir left me completely enthralled. I wanted to read everything about that bold, courageous, and outspoken woman — a woman who, some 70 years before Rosa Parks’ brave stance, refused to exit a train car for whites only, and was dragged off of a train by a conductor who manhandled her. In self-defense, Wells bit him on his hand. That year, during “Black History Month”, I enthusiastically wrote a 10-page book report on Wells’ illustrious life.
Born into slavery in 1862, during the Civil War, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was an African-American suffragist, educator, activist, abolitionist, anti-lynching crusader, publisher, and a pioneering investigative journalist. She was a trailblazer, whose writings and works challenged racial and gender canons of her day. Wells paved the way for generations of politicians, community leaders, activists, and especially African-American journalists.
More than a century after Wells had established herself as a pioneering investigative journalist, in 1999, Gwen Ifill broke entrenched barriers and became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised public affairs program with Washington Week In Review. I, like so many other African-American women, was thrilled to finally see someone who looked like us, a woman who might have shared some of the same life experiences that we had had. We saw ourselves reflected in Gwen Ifill’s face, and that gave us a sense of pride and recognition. I personally became a loyal fan of Washington Week In Review and PBS Newshour, where she was a senior correspondent.
In 2004, Ifill became the first African-American woman to moderate a vice-presidential debate. She appeared on numerous news shows, including Meet the Press, Face the Nation, The Colbert Report, Charlie Rose, The Tavis Smiley Show, and Inside Washington.
Gwendolyn L. Ifill was born in Jamaica, Queens, on September 29, 1955. Her Panamanian father was an African Methodist Episcopal minister. Her mother, a Barbadian immigrant. Ifill grew up in parsonages in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. She graduated from Simmons College, a women’s college in Boston.
As a tribute to World Press Freedom Day, which is marked globally on May 3rd every year, and in honor of these two journalistic icons, I’ve allowed my rather fertile imagination to venture beyond this mundane world. What follows is an imaginary conversation between Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Gwen Ifll — both of whom have now transitioned to journalism Heaven.
GWEN IFILL: Miss Wells, it is with the utmost respect and admiration that I’ve asked for this meeting with you — such a prolific and prominent investigative journalist. You founded and co-founded numerous civil rights organizations, including the NAACP. With Harriet Tubman, Frances Harper, and Mary Church Terrell, you founded The National Association of Colored Women. Fearless, and uncompromising, you spent a lifetime battling racism, sexism, and violence, lending your voice and pen to anti-lynching and women’s rights, at a time when that kind of ideology could have gotten you killed.
IDA B. WELLS: My dear, to have died silently would have been a death far worse. I was born a slave, but that condition neither limited nor defined who I was, nor what I would achieve. I never allowed that to devalue my human-ness.
GWEN IFILL: You were decreed “free” by the “Emancipation Proclamation” 6 months after you were born. Is that correct?
IDA B. WELLS: The word “free” is both subjective and conditional. As a female African-American living in the deep south, I still faced racial and gender prejudices. I lived under a canopy of discriminatory laws and practices. I decided to use pen to paper as a way of fighting and exposing certain societal problems. You know, some of the same practices that you yourself, more than a hundred years later, have come up against.
GWEN IFILL: Yes ma’am. That is sad but true. While attending Simmons College, I worked as an intern for the Boston Herald-American. One day at work, I found a note on my desk that read: “Nigger go home.”
IDA B. WELLS: May I ask, how did you handle that?
GWEN IFILL: I showed it to the editors — they hired me after I said “it’s unfortunate, but that I have work to do.” And I promptly went back to my desk.
IDA B. WELLS: Well-done, my dear! The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. And since then, you’ve gone on to do so many wonderful things. As a political analyst, you moderated the 2004 and 2008 vice-presidential debates, and did a tremendous job with that. A very balanced and objective moderator you are. And…compliments to you on the best-selling book that you wrote. The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama is quite comprehensive. It makes an excellent read. Unfortunately, I am a victim of bad timing. I would have given anything to have been around in 2008 when Barack Obama became our country’s 44th president! Never in my wildest dream did I ever think that could have happened!
GWEN IFIL: President Obama’s election was one of the better things to have happened to our country since your passing. And of course, Kamala Harris is now the 49th vice-president of the United States. So, as you can see, we’ve made some progress. But there have been wars, uprisings, pandemics, and the 911 attacks on the World Trade Center. Since my own untimely passing, far worse events have occured. COVID-19, a devastating pandemic, has taken the lives of millions of people. And on January 6, 2021, an angry, violent mob stormed the United States Capitol. That insurrection resulted in the Capitol being locked down, while lawmakers ran and hid from the lynch mobs.
IDA B.WELLS: I beg your pardon. But did you say lynch mob?
GWEN IFIL: Yes. That is correct. The angry mob erected a gallows, complete with a noose, as they chanted “Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!” For your information, Mike Pence was the Vice-President of the United States.
IDA B. WELLS: My dear, I am tired and disappointed. It is time we bring this meeting to an end. I am tired of fighting. Tired of men fighting men. Tired of unnecessary wars.
GWEN IFILL : Yes. You have fought long and hard — sometimes single-handedly, sometimes single-mindedly. Thank you, Miss Wells, for all that you have done. Your many accomplishments have inspired generations of women to follow in your footsteps. I am one of those women. At an early age, I was compelled to pursue journalism because of the work you had done. You stood less than 5 feet tall, but in our eyes, you were a giant. What parting words would you like to share?
IDA B. WELLS: With all of the work I’ve done fighting against the evils of lynching. America’s greatest problem might be not learning lessons from our past.
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