Ida B. Wells Lecture Series
The Ida B. Wells Lecture Series
The Ida B. Wells lecture series explores contemporary issues impacting the rights of women and justice for all marginalized people and elevates the voices of those who have been silenced. The series honors the legacy of early 20th-century Black journalist, Ida B. Wells, whose writing and advocacy communicated to America the reality of lynching and racism and who exemplifies the power of words to create change. She herself was silenced and vilified.
Series themes and speakers have included Black mothers and police violence with Loretta Prater and Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, and wrongful incarceration with Yusef Salaam, New York City councilor and member of the Central Park Five. Details can be found below.
The Ida B. Wells lecture is supported in part with funds from the Mellon Foundation's 鈥淎ffirming Multivocal Humanities'' grants, which allows us to not only amplify diverse voices, but also to create multivocal spaces for listening, reckoning, and remembering those whose voices are too often unheard and to engage students, the 91原创 community and the community beyond to understand the power of the humanities to create knowledge, narratives of truth, social justice and social change.
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Beyond survival
March 30, 2026 | Written by Hilary DouwesChanel Miller relates story of trauma and resilience at Ida B. Wells Lecture -
From tragedy to advocacy
March 19, 2025 | Written by Hilary DouwesPulse nightclub shooting survivor Brandon Wolf shares powerful story of becoming an activist -
Crucial conversations
March 15, 2024 | Written by Megan M.F. EverhartOne of the Central Park 鈥楨xonerated Five鈥 shares his story of finding hope and using his platform to advocate for reform.
PREVIOUS LECTURES
Violence: An American Tradition?
March 10, 2025
Brandon Wolf鈥檚 life changed forever on June 12, 2016 when a gunman opened fire in Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Wolf narrowly escaped, but two of his best friends were among the 49 victims of America鈥檚 second deadliest mass shooting. The attack has been called an act of terrorism against the LGBTQ community.聽
After channeling his life into fighting for a safer world, Wolf is now a nationally recognized LGBTQ civil rights advocate and leader in the movement to end gun violence. He shared his story at the 2025 Ida B. Wells lecture,聽Violence: An American Tradition?聽on Tuesday, March 11, 2025 at Mitchell Hall, 91原创.
March 12, 2024
Freedom for the Wrongfully Convicted
In 1989, at just 15 years young, Yusef Salaam was wrongfully convicted, along with four other Black and Latino young men, of raping and beating a white woman, Trisha Meili, who was jogging in New York鈥檚 Central Park. After almost seven years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, Salaam鈥檚 case was overturned and he was set free.
His life, hers, and those of the other young men, were forever changed by this experience. But after Salaam鈥檚 release, he has advocated for criminal justice reform, prison reform, and the abolition of juvenile solitary confinement and capital punishment.聽
Salaam, who was recently elected to the New York City Council, shared his story at this year鈥檚 Ida B. Wells lecture, hosted by the Department of Women and Gender Studies. The event was held on Tuesday, March 12, from 4-5:30 pm in Mitchell Hall. Salaam signed copies of his book Better, Not Bitter
To supplement this event, Women and Gender Studies held a screening of the documentary 鈥淭he Central Park Five鈥 on Monday, March 11 at 5:30 p.m. The film chronicles The Central Park Jogger case from the perspective of these five teenagers whose lives were upended by this miscarriage of justice.
Black Mothers and Police Violence
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 4pm to 6:30pm
In celebration of 50 years of Women and Gender Studies at the 91原创, the department, with support from the College of Arts and Sciences and other university-wide collaborators, hosted the inaugural Ida B. Wells lecture, titled 鈥淏lack Mothers and Police Violence.鈥
The event featured a conversation between two Black mothers whose sons were killed by the police or a police surrogate鈥擲ybrina Fulton (mother of Trayvon Martin) and Loretta Prater (mother of Leslie Prater). The lecture is named for Ida B. Wells, an investigative journalist and early civil rights activist, who spoke to audiences across the country to expose the horrors of lynching.聽
In addition, Mary Ruth Warner was honored as the first recipient of an award in her name for her contributions to the 91原创 and the Department of Women and Gender Studies.