Ida B. Wells-Barnett: Character Analysis in Call Us What We Carry

Overview

Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1931) is a historical figure who appears as a character in Amanda Gorman’s poetry collection Call Us What We Carry (2021). Unlike fictional characters, Wells-Barnett is a real civil rights activist, journalist, and anti-lynching crusader. In the collection, Gorman recreates a primary document: Wells-Barnett’s April 1918 letter to President Woodrow Wilson protesting the U.S. Army’s Bulletin Number 35. This letter is the centerpiece of the poem “The Fellowship” (Chapter 48). Wells-Barnett is not a recurring voice but rather a touchstone—her protest anchors the book’s exploration of historical injustice, the duty to speak truth to power, and the ongoing fight for democratic ideals. Her inclusion connects the personal and political struggles of the early twentieth century to the collective crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckoning of 2020.

Plot Role in Call Us What We Carry

Wells-Barnett’s role is confined to “The Fellowship,” a poem that blends excerpts from her archival letter with Gorman’s own lines. The poem is situated near the end of the collection, following “War: What, Is It Good?” (Chapter 47), which draws parallels between World War I, the 1918 influenza, and the COVID-19 pandemic, and preceding the visual poem of the slave ship (Chapter 49). In the book’s structure, Wells-Barnett’s protest functions as a historical case study of resistance during wartime. The poem’s subtitle notes that the letter was sent from Mrs. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, President of the Negro Fellowship League, to President Wilson. It protests General Ballou’s Bulletin Number 35, which ordered Black soldiers of the 92nd Division to avoid public places where their race made them unwelcome. By juxtaposing the fight for democracy abroad with enforced segregation at home, Gorman uses Wells-Barnett’s voice to challenge the hypocrisy of a nation sending Black men to die for freedoms they were denied.

The poem’s fragmented structure—with the refrain “Democracy before war” repeated—turns the historical protest into a timeless challenge. Wells-Barnett is not a narrator; she is a witness whose documented words are reanimated. Her role is to represent the tradition of Black women’s leadership in the freedom struggle and to demonstrate how archival records carry the weight of unfinished justice into the present. In the broader context of Call Us What We Carry, which emphasizes carrying history forward, Wells-Barnett embodies the act of testimony.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Because the poem is a recreation of a single letter, we infer Wells-Barnett’s motivations from the content and tone of that letter, as well as from her known biography. The primary motivation visible in “The Fellowship” is a demand for consistency and justice. She writes to the President of the United States to protest an order that treats Black soldiers as second-class citizens, even as they risk their lives for the nation. The letter’s logic assumes that the president, as commander in chief, can intervene to correct a racist policy. This reveals a belief in the possibility of appealing to higher authority, a conviction that democratic principles are real and can be enforced.

Her traits include moral courage: she publicly challenges the most powerful man in the country on behalf of a marginalized group. She shows strategic thinking by writing directly to Wilson rather than only to military officials. The poem’s repetition of “Democracy before war” suggests a clear prioritization of domestic equality over foreign conquest. She refuses to accept that the fight for democracy abroad can be separated from the fight for democracy at home. This indicates a holistic, intersectional understanding of justice.

Interpretation: The letter’s existence also implies persistence. Wells-Barnett was a veteran activist by 1918, and her willingness to document protest shows a commitment to keeping a paper trail of injustice. Gorman’s choice to include the National Archives citation underscores that Wells-Barnett’s voice was preserved precisely because she chose to write it down.

Chronological Arc Within the Collection

Wells-Barnett’s appearance is a single moment in the collection’s timeline. However, within the book’s thematic chronology, she fits into a sequence that moves from contemporary pandemic experience (early chapters) to historical analogies, and then to specific historical documents that demand reckoning. “The Fellowship” comes after a chapter that redefines war as an accident and a mistake, and before a chapter that examines the visual and textual erasure of the slave trade. In this arc, Wells-Barnett’s letter serves as a bridge: it marks a moment when a Black activist explicitly names the contradiction of fighting for a nation that oppresses her people. The poem does not recount her full life or later achievements; it zooms in on a single act of protest.

After this chapter, the collection moves to “_ _ _ _ R I P _ _ _ _ _ _ a _ _ _ _ _ Ship” (Chapter 49), which meditates on gaps in collective memory regarding the transatlantic slave trade. Wells-Barnett’s letter, by contrast, is a document that has been preserved in the National Archives—it survives, even if the full context of Black soldiers’ experience has been marginalized. Her role in the arc is to demonstrate that some voices did speak up and that those documents remain available for poets and historians to reanimate.

Relationships

Within the poem, the central relationship is between Wells-Barnett (the petitioner) and President Wilson (the addressee). This is a power-laden relationship: a Black woman activist addresses the white male head of state. The implied relationship also includes the soldiers of the 92nd Division, for whom she speaks. The poem’s title, “The Fellowship,” refers both to Wells-Barnett’s Negro Fellowship League and to a broader fellowship of citizens demanding equality. Thus, the poem implicitly connects Wells-Barnett to the reader and to contemporary protesters. In the larger collection, she enters into relationship with other historical figures evoked in poems like “DC Putsch” (Chapter 45) and the figure of the “skinny Black girl” in “The Hill We Climb” (Chapter 72). The acknowledgments in “Gratitude” (Chapter 73) name “freedom fighters who broke their chains and changed the world,” a category that includes Wells-Barnett.

Interpretation: By placing her alongside other voices of resistance, Gorman creates a fellowship across time. Wells-Barnett’s relationship with the present reader is one of inheritance: the poet carries her words forward.

Key Decisions and Consequences

The key decision Wells-Barnett makes in the poem is to write the letter itself. She chooses to use her platform as president of the Negro Fellowship League to confront the president directly. The consequence, within the poem, is that the letter enters the historical record. The larger consequence—outside the poem but implied—is that her protest likely had little immediate effect on military policy; Bulletin Number 35 was not rescinded until after Wilson’s presidency, if at all. Yet the poem suggests that the act of protest matters beyond its immediate impact. The letter becomes a document that later generations can read and reanimate. Gorman’s recreation itself is a consequence of that decision: the letter survives to be included in a twenty-first-century poetry collection.

Another decision implied by the poem’s title is her founding of the Negro Fellowship League, which created an organizational structure for protest. The poem does not detail that decision, but it frames the letter as coming from that organization, emphasizing collective action over individual complaint.

Themes and Symbol Connections

• Collective Memory and Erasure: Wells-Barnett’s letter is preserved in the National Archives, yet many such documents are overlooked. The poem reclaims this specific protest, fighting against the erasure of Black activists’ voices. The fragmented poem—with its own gaps and repetitions—mimics the difficulty of fully recovering that history.
• Grief and Trauma: The trauma of war and segregation is present. Wells-Barnett writes not only for herself but for soldiers suffering humiliation and danger. The poem connects to the book’s larger exploration of the weight of loss.
• Resilience and Healing: Her act of protest is itself a form of resilience. She does not remain silent; she demands that the nation live up to its ideals. Healing, for the collection, begins with such testimony.
• Unity and Fellowship: The title explicitly evokes fellowship—the Negro Fellowship League and the idea of a community of justice-seekers. The poem links Wells-Barnett to a network of activists across time.
• Hope and Transformation: Despite the bleak context, the act of writing the letter implies a hope that change is possible. Gorman’s bridge lines—“Democracy before war”—transform a specific protest into a universal call for prioritizing justice. In “The Hill We Climb,” the phrase “democracy can be periodically delayed but can never be permanently defeated” echoes this conviction.

Wells-Barnett’s letter serves as a symbol of the “light” that “The Hill We Climb” calls readers to see and be. She represents the tradition of those who “carry” history, as explored in “What We Carry” (Chapter 71): “Language is an ark” and “We put words in the ark.” Her letter is such an ark.

Questions and Answers

Here are five book-specific questions about Ida B. Wells-Barnett in Call Us What We Carry, with direct answers derived from the text and outline.

1. What specific document by Ida B. Wells-Barnett does Gorman recreate in the collection?

Gorman recreates Wells-Barnett’s April 1918 letter to President Woodrow Wilson, in which she protests General Ballou’s Bulletin Number 35 for the 92nd Division. The poem incorporates excerpts from the actual letter held in the National Archives. This is stated explicitly in the poem’s footnote in Chapter 48.

2. How does the poem’s title “The Fellowship” relate to Wells-Barnett’s work?

The title refers to the Negro Fellowship League, which Wells-Barnett served as president. In the poem, “fellowship” also suggests a broader community of citizens demanding equality. The title thus connects Wells-Barnett’s organizational leadership to the collective nature of the protest.

3. What contradiction does Wells-Barnett’s letter highlight?

The letter highlights the contradiction between the United States fighting for democracy in World War I while enforcing racial segregation and discrimination at home. Black soldiers were ordered to avoid public places because of their race, even as they were expected to die for their country. This hypocrisy is central to the poem’s criticism.

4. How does the poem’s structure reflect the content of her protest?

The poem uses a fragmented structure with repeated phrases, such as “Democracy before war.” This repetition mimics the insistence of her protest and underscores the urgency of the message. The blending of archival excerpts with Gorman’s own lines also mirrors the act of carrying history forward—the poet fills in gaps and makes the past present.

5. Where does “The Fellowship” appear in the collection, and why is that placement significant?

It appears in Chapter 48, after “War: What, Is It Good?” (Chapter 47) and before the slave ship poem (Chapter 49). This placement juxtaposes war’s human cost with a specific instance of racial injustice during wartime, then moves to an earlier historical trauma of the Middle Passage. Wells-Barnett’s protest serves as a bridge connecting World War I era racism to the larger legacy of dehumanization.

Note: This analysis distinguishes between explicit facts—such as Wells-Barnett’s 1918 letter, her role as president of the Negro Fellowship League, and the poem’s reproduction of that letter—and interpretive claims, which are marked or contextually implied. For further context on the book’s themes, see our guides on collective memory and erasure, resilience and healing, and unity and fellowship. Return to the main book page or explore the ending explained.