Anna Julia Cooper and Ida B. Wells are both powerful African American women, who are prevalent in understanding the intertwine of race, class, and gender in late nineteenth and early-to-mid twentieth centuries. Each woman had a different cause, they viewed the world having different problems and need different solutions. These woman for their beliefs were perceived as radical for their time. Anna Julia Cooper was born enslaved in North Carolina. Coopers life of education started early, at the age of nine she received a scholarship to St. Augustine’s Normal School. St. Augustine’s Normal School is a North Carolina institution developed to train instructors for service faculty consisted of formerly enslaved individuals. Cooper became one of…show more content… In this book Cooper talks about how womanhood is a vital element in the regeneration and progress of a race. Cooper then goes on to argue that education and elevation of the black women is crucial for racial uplift. The reason being is society is evaluated best by the status of the female members. Cooper truly believed a black woman were best situated to analyze, understand, and offer solutions to the injustices of society. The reason being is because of their position as women in a sexist society and as being black in a racist society. Cooper believed that through higher education could a race be regenerated along with the progress of a nation, and the…show more content… In March of 1892 three black business men opened a grocery store that rivaled with a white merchant in the area. Because of this the three black business men were lynched. Ida would not let this injustice be swept under the rug she reported on the lynching’s and stated:
” Nobody in this section of the country believes the old threadbare lie that Negro men rape white women. If Southern white men are not careful, they will over-reach themselves and public sentiment will have a reaction; a conclusion will then be reached which will be very damaging to the moral reputation of their women.”
Ida had fled Memphis but would continue to report on injustices of lynch laws and publicize the events happening in the south. Ida believed that if she did this northerners would move to action if they realized what was going on in the south. What made Ida B. Wells seem radical was her journalism. Ida would report on injustices going on in the south even at the risk of her life. She wanted the egregious crimes of the south to be publicized. She continued to do this in order to shed light on injustices, so people of this time seeing her as radical wouldn’t be