Breakdown:

1. The Tragic Death of Ernest Whitehurst
   In the summer of 1930, 16-year-old Ernest Whitehurst, a Black teen in Chicago, lost his life at the hands of the police. After being accused—possibly falsely—of breaking a restaurant window, Ernest surrendered, believing the police’s promise that he would be unharmed. However, the police fired at him 35 times, killing him. Over 100 officers had surrounded his home, using tear gas and gunfire to draw him out, terrorizing Ernest and his five younger siblings. Despite this brutal act, officials ruled the incident as justified, and no one was held accountable for his death.
2. Ida B. Wells: A Crusader for Justice and Truth
   Ernest’s story would have disappeared from history if not for the relentless work of journalist and anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells. She documented his story in the Chicago Daily News and the NAACP’s The Crisis magazine in 1930, part of her broader mission to expose racial violence. Wells’s life’s work highlighted the brutal experiences Black Americans faced, from everyday discrimination to deadly violence.
3. Wells’s Early Life and Battle Against Racial Injustice
   Born in 1862, Ida B. Wells experienced racial discrimination firsthand. In 1884, she sued the Tennessee Railroad after being forcibly removed from a first-class seat, though the ruling was later overturned. She also lost close friends to mob violence—a transformative event that drove her to document racial violence and lynching in the U.S. Her seminal work, A Red Record, published in 1895, detailed horrific acts of racial violence nationwide.
4. The Continuing Legacy of the Red Record
   Ernest Whitehurst’s story is one among countless other tragic narratives Wells documented in her efforts to bring awareness to racial violence. Her Red Record serves as a somber reminder of the countless Black lives lost to racial and police violence. Today, new names are still being added to this grim legacy as Black individuals continue to face racial violence, making Wells’s mission as relevant as ever.
5. Our Responsibility to Keep These Stories Alive
   The history of racial violence endures, and as Wells demonstrated, it is essential to tell these stories so they are not forgotten. Today’s racial and police violence is a continuation of past injustices, and it’s our duty to keep telling these stories, honoring victims, and striving for a more just future.

Final Thought:

Ernest Whitehurst’s story, like so many others, would be forgotten if not for the courageous work of Ida B. Wells. Nearly a century later, her legacy calls on us to document and speak out against the ongoing injustices Black Americans face. We honor her mission by bearing witness, advocating for change, and remembering those whose lives have been impacted by racial violence.