Ida B Wells, African American activist, honored by Google

Wells-Barnett was a prominent suffragist and anti-lynching activist who used her platform as a newspaper editor to decry racial inequality in the late 19th century

As civil rights past and present remain in focus after the shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, and the release of Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, Google is celebrating journalist and activist Ida B Wells-Barnett's 153rd birthday with a "Google doodle".

Wells-Barnett, more commonly known as Ida B Wells, was an African American newspaper editor, suffragist and anti-lynching activist at a time when avenues were thoroughly blocked for women - especially African American women.