NAACP Founder Ida B. Wells-Barnett Three Day Birthday Celebration Commemorating 152 Years

June 24, 2014 - PRLog -- Holly Springs - June 2014, the 18^th annual birthday celebration of NAACP co-founder Ida B. Wells-Barnett will take place in Holly Springs, Mississippi Friday July 11^th through Sunday July 13, 2014.  This unique and educational celebration will include a one-woman monologue, tour of the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee as well as arts and crafts display for America’s civil rights "crusader for justice”.  Community leaders, Wells-Barnett's family members, and participants nationwide will attend this festive event.

The three-day celebration launches with an arts and crafts display Friday at the Eddie L. Smith Multipurpose Center. The display will showcase artifacts, and civil rights era memorabilia. Proclaimed performer Safiya Bandele, from New York City, will portray Wells-Barnett through narration, dance and physical expression, which will detail her life as a journalist, teacher, and outspoken leader providing awareness to issues oppressing African-Americans and women.  This performance will take place Saturday, July 12th at the annual banquet on the campus of Rust College, formerly Shaw University, which is the alma mater of Mrs. Wells-Barnett.  The Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum and Cultural Center of African-American History will offer a tour that will provide attendees the cultural essence of the 19^th century African-American family.

Family members who are currently keeping the legacy alive will be in attendance discussing issues that affect the African-American community including, Tiana L. Ferrell, great-great granddaughter of Ida B. Wells and Publisher of Atlanta Free Speech (AFS), who was recently featured in the June 2014 issue of Essence Magazine.AFS is a revival of the Memphis Free Speech and Headlight, which was co-owned by Mrs. Wells-Barnett.

Ida B. Wells-Barnett Birthday Celebration

The Ida B. Wells-Barnett Birthday Celebration was created to provide a historical and educational weekend experience in the birthplace of the NAACP founder Ida B. Wells-Barnett, who was born into slavery months prior to the Emancipation Proclamation on July 16, 1862.  She became a journalist and public speaker who traveled throughout the United States and foreign countries bringing awareness to the issues of African-Americans and lynching.  This annual event strives to promote, preserve, and protect the legacy of Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

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