Ida B. Wells (1862 - 1931) was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She traveled across the United States and in Europe, exposing the injustices against African Americans that were taking place throughout the South. In 1892 She became exiled in Memphis, Tennessee where she worked at the Memphis Free Speech newspaper, after its premises were destroyed. With a price on her head she went to New York where she wrote and began to speak to audiences about the brutal realities of lynching. This took her to the United Kingdom in 1893 where she continued to speak. Returning to the UK in 1894 her column Ida B Wells Abroad for the Daily Inter Ocean revealed the challenges, triumphs, alliances and obstacles that she faced in the UK in her efforts to get British support to impact change in the US.

Wells’ great-granddaughter Michelle Duster compares her own life experiences to those of her great-grandmother and highlights the challenges and progress of African American women born a century apart. Troy Duster, Ph.D., Wells' grandson, adds historical background to explain why global pressure was solicited in order to address the wide-spread oppression and terrorism faced by African Americans at the turn of the 20th century.