Ida B. Wells fought with the truth. She counted the dead when no one else would, published what she found, and refused to be silenced. Our mission is to keep that discipline alive, and to hand it to the people inheriting the fight.
What we're here to do
Rise With Wells is the movement that travels with the film WELLS. A film can move a heart for two hours. A movement keeps it moving. We exist to make sure the story on screen becomes action in the world, defending a free press, honoring civil rights history, and training the next generation of truth-tellers to report the injustices their own communities are living.
We are not a political campaign, and we do not endorse candidates. We are an education and legacy initiative, grounded in the historical record and the enduring example of a woman who believed that the surest weapon against a lie is a documented fact.
The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them. Ida B. Wells
How we do it
The work runs through four grassroots campaigns, each drawn from something Ida actually did.
The Red Record
A living archive of testimony and local civil-rights history. Community members add their own family stories straight from the site, modern evidence in the spirit of her 1895 record.
Bylines for Justice
We put her methods, verify, document, publish, into the hands of student and citizen writers, and ask: if Ida were alive today, what story would she chase?
Boycott to Build
Ida organized boycotts as economic action. We flip it from withholding dollars to directing them, pooling support to build the movement.
What we promise
We hold ourselves to the same standard we ask of our writers: accuracy, transparency, and respect for her name.
The assignment is still open.
Her methods, verify, document, refuse to be silent, are the same tools this moment needs. Pick one, and get to work.
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