The right of women to vote in elections is known as women’s suffrage. Women attempted to modify voting rules to allow females to vote beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, in addition to their work for broad-based economic and political equality and social changes. The woman’s suffrage campaign was significant because it culminated in the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote for the first time. 

A snapshot that stood out to me was Alison’s, as seen in the image was a group of white women photographed protesting for women’s suffrage.

However, though they are fighting for women’s rights, we do not see any black women nor any people of color in the photograph. The group holds placards that refer to both the amendment and suffrage, both of which exclusively apply to white women.

When I was reading through the One Hundred Years Toward Suffrage: An Overview (A timeline), I came across a section on Ida B. Wells and what she did for the movement, especially for black women and the black community as a whole. 

That’s when I realized that individuals of color were unable to participate in the movement which Ida fought for. She chose to contribute to the movement because wanted to advance the cause of black equality and black power. 

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Ida B. Wells-Barnett was a well-known journalist, activist, and researcher. Throughout her life, she confronted sexism, racism, and brutality. Wells-Barnett, a brilliant writer, also utilized her journalistic abilities to bring attention to the circumstances of African Americans throughout the South. To name a few of her numerous accomplishments, Wells founded the first black kindergarten, organized black women, and helped elect the city’s first black councilman. I believe she felt it necessary to fight for black women and people of color because no one else would.