Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones on Ida B. Wells' impact and legacy
CBSN
As one of the most prominent journalists in America, Nikole Hannah-Jones has been both admired and scorned. Her work on The 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine re-framed American history through slavery and the contributions of Black people— an uncomfortable lens for some.
A clue to her unapologetic motivation can be found on Twitter, where her page name reads "Ida Bae Wells. " "From the moment I pulled her autobiography off-the-shelf, I was ... hooked, and to this day, she's kind of my spiritual godmother," Hannah-Jones said of Ida B. Wells, the fearless 19th-century newspaper publisher, suffragist and anti-lynching campaigner who exposed the horrors of lynchings and enlightened those in denial.Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.