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The nineteenth century lynching mob cuts off ears, toes, and fingers, strips off flesh, and distributes portions of the body as souvenirs among the crowd.

— Ida B. Wells Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought (1995)

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More quotes by Ida B. Wells

The mob spirit has grown with the increasing intelligence of the Afro-American.

A Winchester Rifle should have a place of honor in every black home.

There is nothing we can do about the lynching now, as we are out-numbered and without arms.

The only times an Afro-American who was assaulted got away has been when he had a gun and used it in self-defense.

During the slave regime, the Southern white man owned the Negro body and soul. It was to his interest to dwarf the soul and preserve the body.

The Red Record (1895)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Ida B. Wells (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.