Today is the birthday and the death date of Ella Josephine Baker (December 13, 1903 – December 13, 1986), who died on her 83rd birthday in 1986.
A civil rights activist & leader, Baker was a key organizer & strategist in some of the most influential organizations of the time.
A civil rights activist & leader, Baker was a key organizer & strategist in some of the most influential organizations of the time.
Baker was a formidable force & primary strategist in organizations including the NAACP, Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Baker was the founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
“While serving as Executive Secretary for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), she organized the founding conference of SNCC, held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina during the Easter weekend of 1960.”
She also mentored many emerging activists, such as Diane Nash, Kwame Ture, Rosa Parks, and Bob Moses, whom she first mentored as leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
“Baker criticized professionalized, charismatic leadership; she promoted grassroots organizing, radical democracy, and the ability of the oppressed to understand their worlds and advocate for themselves.”
“She is known for her critiques not only of racism within American culture, but also of sexism within the civil rights movement.”
“You didn't see me on television, you didn't see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders.”
— Ella Baker
— Ella Baker
