#bealestreetbaptistchurch

[honeysuckleglitterbomb]

I had heard her name, but I’m ashamed to admit I did not know anything about Black investigative journalist and civil rights pioneer Ida B. Wells until I recently happened to hear some about her life on the radio. In 1892, she published her research on lynching. A white mob consequently ransacked and destroyed her offices at the Beale Street Baptist Church while she was away to NYC. Above, my recent photos of the historically important Beale Street Baptist Church (est. 1869 by formerly enslaved persons, reputedly the first brick church built for use by African-Americans), and the 6-story mural featuring Ida B. Wells (and the church) downtown at S. Main and Dr. M.L. King, Jr. Ave., installed 2016 by artist Michael Roy a/k/a Birdcap, in collaboration with Derrick Dent, and commissioned by the Urban Art Commission, Memphis.