If it wasn't for brave women like Ida B. Wells and Claudette Colvin, Rosa Parks might not have been recognized as the civil rights leader that she is known for today. This statement isn't meant to diminish the accomplishments that Ms. Parks has achieved by her tenacious defiance and her resilience against the unfair laws and harsh treatment constructed to make people of color feel inferior. This brief history lesson is meant to show the world that often times effective change doesn't come with one strong gust of wind but with a multitude of hard-hitting forces.

In Holly Mississippi, in 1862, a woman who will one day earn the title "Princess of the Press" was born to slave parents. Her father, James Wells, who was the half-Black son of a White slave owner, and her mother were both active members of the Republican Party.

After the yellow fever epidemic struck Mississippi in 1878, her parents contracted the disease and died, which left her and her siblings orphaned at the age of 16. She then decided to drop out of school to help care for her siblings. She got a job as a school teacher by dressing in mature clothing, which helped conceal her young age. Two years later she moved to Memphis, Tennesse, where Black Americans had more of an opportunity to grow economically without the social constraints that their race posed for them in many southern states. As a community school teacher, she was invited to be a part of a prestigious Black literary, social club where she was hired to write articles for their newspaper entitled The Evening Star.

During this time, the northern effort for the protection of civil rights was waning. The northern presence was vanishing and the oppressive laws of the South were threatening to make a second appearance.

Her dream of fellow Black citizens living free and obtaining equal status, as that of any White person, would soon be threatened, and her faith tested when she comes face- to- face with the horrendous side of the south.

At age 22, Wells buys a train ticket for the lady's coach section. She's riding on the train, on the way to work, when the conductor asks to see her ticket. She does as she's told and hands the man her ticket when he proceeds to tell her that she can not sit in the seat that she paid for. When he asks for her to leave the area and find another seat in the section reserved for "colored" passengers, she refuses to remove herself from the section. So, the conductor tries to throw her out forcibly. When he grabs her, to try and physically force her out of her seat, she clenches her teeth down on the back of his hand and continues to fight with him. After acquiring backup from two other conductors, together they physically remove her from the train.

Angered and humiliated by the callous treatment of the train operator, she filed a lawsuit against the transportation company in which she won $500 in damages. In 1887, the railroad appealed the case to the state supreme court and Wells lost. It was ruled that she was rightfully removed from the coach section due to the segregation laws that were enacted at the time.

After such a devastating blow, she felt utterly disappointed in the American justice system; and so she turned to her diary to unleash all of her concerns and disappointments.

She wrote in one diary entry: "I had hoped for such great things for my suit- for my people generally. I'd firmly believed all along that the law was on our side and would -when we appeal to it- give us justice. I feel shorn of that belief and utterly discouraged and just now if it were possible would gather my race in my arms and fly away with them." Ida transferred that fury into masterfully written articles that detailed her case, which was published in many newspapers. Under the pen name "lola," she wrote inspiring pieces that campaigned for social reform, self-help, and education.

With every social injustice that plagued disenfranchised communities, Wells used the pen and paper to speak out and invoke change. When lynch mobs began to threaten the Black community in cold- blooded murder of innocent men, women, and children, Wells reached out to an important investor (The English government) and wrote about the chilling encounters that many unsuspecting members faced when the Southern Whites were threatened by the economic advancement of the once enslaved people. When the news of the mistreatment of Blacks hit England, the first Anti-lynching Campaign was birthed, and this movement helped to temporarily cease the senseless killings of countless individuals.

She later decided to settle in Chicago, where she met her soon to be husband, Fernand Bernett. Bernett was an attorney, an active voice in the Black community, and the owner of the first Black newspaper in Chicago, The Conservator. After they were married, he sold the publication to his wife where she continued to write about the social injustices the plagued the Black, as well as the female, community.

She wasn't just a pioneer for social justice for Black people; she also acted as a beacon of hope for the women suffragist movement as well. Collectively, Ida B. Wells, Susan B. Anthony, Jane Adams, and many other female leaders stood up for women's rights. She went from raising her siblings to raising the nation. Wells has proven time and time again that perseverance, hard work, and faith can surpass any obstacle.