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Ella Baker: Community Organizer of the Civil Rights Movement
Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986) was among the most influential strategists of the most important social movement in modern US history, the Civil Rights Movement, yet most Americans have never heard of her. Behind the scenes, she organized on behalf of the major civil rights organizations of her day—the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC), and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)—among many other activist groups. As she once told an interviewer, “[Y]ou 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 pieces together out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.”
Rejecting charismatic leadership as a means of social change, Baker invented a form of grassroots community organizing for social justice that had a profound impact on the struggle for civil rights and continues to inspire agents of change on behalf of a wide variety of social issues.
In this book, historian J. Todd Moye masterfully reconstructs Baker’s life and contribution for a new generation of readers. Those who despair that the civil rights story is told too often from the top down and at the dearth of accessible works on women who helped shape the movement will welcome this new addition to the Library of African American Biography series, designed to provide concise, readable, and up-to-date lives of leading black figures in American history.
Rejecting charismatic leadership as a means of social change, Baker invented a form of grassroots community organizing for social justice that had a profound impact on the struggle for civil rights and continues to inspire agents of change on behalf of a wide variety of social issues.
In this book, historian J. Todd Moye masterfully reconstructs Baker’s life and contribution for a new generation of readers. Those who despair that the civil rights story is told too often from the top down and at the dearth of accessible works on women who helped shape the movement will welcome this new addition to the Library of African American Biography series, designed to provide concise, readable, and up-to-date lives of leading black figures in American history.
204 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 29, 2022
This is a good introductory read about Ella Baker (1903-1986). It is one of six books published since 2010 in The Library of African American Biography Series (---the subjects of the other books being Paul Robeson, Booker T. Washington, Walter White, Richard Wright, and Louis Armstrong). As author J. Todd Moye says in the introduction, this is "first and foremost an intellectual biography" and so its emphasis is on those personal details which informed Ella Baker's development as a critical, radical thinker and activist.
Educated and independent, Ella Baker moved first to New Jersey and then to Harlem from North Carolina in 1927 when she was 24 years old. There she met with intense exposure to artists, entrepreneurs and civic-minded activists. She wasn't shy about striking up conversations with people who had different ideas, and she loved reading and study. After a brief stint as a waitress, Baker worked as a freelance journalist. By 1931 she had become the national director of the Young Negroes' Cooperative League, where she began to develop skills and network in the field of consumer education and social activism.
Ella Baker believed in helping people realize the value of their collective power. Between 1931 and 1959, Baker "dug in her heels" working on projects and with organizations that included the Workers' Education Project (a division of the Works Progress Administration), NAACP, CORE, the Quaker direct-action group Fellowship of Reconciliation, and SCLC. She believed in developing leadership at the grassroots level, and resisted being put on a pedestal as a type of mystical, iconic leader.
Her dedication to helping others identify the social and political problems impacting their lives while encouraging them "to craft their own solutions" readied her to become "the mother of" the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. This book helps to illustrate how what we now know as The Civil Rights Movement was the culmination of decades of education and coalition-building by people whose names, faces, and struggles are largely unheralded.
Educated and independent, Ella Baker moved first to New Jersey and then to Harlem from North Carolina in 1927 when she was 24 years old. There she met with intense exposure to artists, entrepreneurs and civic-minded activists. She wasn't shy about striking up conversations with people who had different ideas, and she loved reading and study. After a brief stint as a waitress, Baker worked as a freelance journalist. By 1931 she had become the national director of the Young Negroes' Cooperative League, where she began to develop skills and network in the field of consumer education and social activism.
Ella Baker believed in helping people realize the value of their collective power. Between 1931 and 1959, Baker "dug in her heels" working on projects and with organizations that included the Workers' Education Project (a division of the Works Progress Administration), NAACP, CORE, the Quaker direct-action group Fellowship of Reconciliation, and SCLC. She believed in developing leadership at the grassroots level, and resisted being put on a pedestal as a type of mystical, iconic leader.
Her dedication to helping others identify the social and political problems impacting their lives while encouraging them "to craft their own solutions" readied her to become "the mother of" the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1960. This book helps to illustrate how what we now know as The Civil Rights Movement was the culmination of decades of education and coalition-building by people whose names, faces, and struggles are largely unheralded.
September 22, 2016
It was good to carve out the time to read two books on Ella Baker, I don't think I do this enough really. Moye focused much on her role as an organizer than Barbara Ransby did, and quoted her directly a little more often, which I really liked.
It's nice to see the whole of that quote, not just the last line. I loved this one as well:
Ella Baker was born in 1903, the year that W.E.B. Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk. I like how Moye connects those two things. There are more stories of her family here, her grandmother conceived out of rape, the politics of the plantation and her battle to marry the man she wanted. Baker told these stories as:
Moye in many ways emphasises what Ransby also emphasised -- Baker's closeness to women's organising as she grew up, being able to see just how well women could run meetings, set policy, manage finances. (20)
There is more on Harlem, too, from Baker herself once more:
Moye emphasises she was reading Marx, discussing it in these radical circles, but that she could separate these ideas on social and economic organisation from the party itself, to which she never was committed. She worked very closely, of course, with George Schuyler on cooperatives (the YNCL goal - 'to gain economic power through consumer cooperation' (34)), and this book made me want to map out all of these connections because I keep finding new ones the more I read. I didn't know that Schuyler had spent 1920s working for The Messenger, socialist magazine run by A. Philip Randolph, moved on to Pittsburgh Courier and the Negro National News.
Baker also formed the 135th St Library's first Negro History Club with librarian Ernestine Rose. In 1933 she joined the branch's Adult Education Committee, where she sponsored speakers and programs. In 1934 she was hired part time to coordinate community outreach programs. I hadn't realised how connected she was to the library, quite how pivotal they were.
She was friends with Lester Granger, and he is the one who helped her get on the WPA's Worker Education Project. She was always looking for work. That was brought home harder here I think, or perhaps I just noticed more the very precarious position she seemed to live through most of her life, looking for ways to work in the movement. On the WPA, Baker describes their connections they made:
They did union halls as well.
Moving to the NAACP years -- there is more here on the many conflicts with director Walter White, his clashes with former director of branches William Pickens -- the only other NAACP person from national office who had visited branches in South. Baker had a bruising schedule:
She encouraged branches to organise around problems they had identified, helped them develop campaigns as bottom up not top down. Saw her role when forced into accepting the position as Director of Branches:
She held a leadership conference in NY December of 1944, then others in Cleveland, Indianapolis and Atlanta in first half of 1945.
(For the full review, click here)
[Y]ou 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 pieces together out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders. (2)
It's nice to see the whole of that quote, not just the last line. I loved this one as well:
The problem in the South is not radical thought. The problem is not even conservative thought. The problem in the South is not enough thought. (5)
Ella Baker was born in 1903, the year that W.E.B. Du Bois published The Souls of Black Folk. I like how Moye connects those two things. There are more stories of her family here, her grandmother conceived out of rape, the politics of the plantation and her battle to marry the man she wanted. Baker told these stories as:
a certain kind of commitment or resentment. It is not the kind of thing we would advocate at this point, but it shows that the drive for full dignity as human beings goes very deep in the struggle. (12)
Moye in many ways emphasises what Ransby also emphasised -- Baker's closeness to women's organising as she grew up, being able to see just how well women could run meetings, set policy, manage finances. (20)
There is more on Harlem, too, from Baker herself once more:
the hotbed of--let's call it radical thinking. You had every spectrum of radical thinking. . . . the ignorant ones, like me, we had lots of opportunity to hear and to evaluate whether or not this was the kind of thing you wanted to get into. Boy, it was good, stimulating! (31)
Moye emphasises she was reading Marx, discussing it in these radical circles, but that she could separate these ideas on social and economic organisation from the party itself, to which she never was committed. She worked very closely, of course, with George Schuyler on cooperatives (the YNCL goal - 'to gain economic power through consumer cooperation' (34)), and this book made me want to map out all of these connections because I keep finding new ones the more I read. I didn't know that Schuyler had spent 1920s working for The Messenger, socialist magazine run by A. Philip Randolph, moved on to Pittsburgh Courier and the Negro National News.
Baker also formed the 135th St Library's first Negro History Club with librarian Ernestine Rose. In 1933 she joined the branch's Adult Education Committee, where she sponsored speakers and programs. In 1934 she was hired part time to coordinate community outreach programs. I hadn't realised how connected she was to the library, quite how pivotal they were.
She was friends with Lester Granger, and he is the one who helped her get on the WPA's Worker Education Project. She was always looking for work. That was brought home harder here I think, or perhaps I just noticed more the very precarious position she seemed to live through most of her life, looking for ways to work in the movement. On the WPA, Baker describes their connections they made:
We'd go around to settlement houses and conduct classes. For instance, those who were very knowledgeable about the history of working class organizations all the way back to the guild... (40)
They did union halls as well.
Moving to the NAACP years -- there is more here on the many conflicts with director Walter White, his clashes with former director of branches William Pickens -- the only other NAACP person from national office who had visited branches in South. Baker had a bruising schedule:
In 1942, between February and early July addressed 178 different groups, visited 38 branches in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia (51)
She encouraged branches to organise around problems they had identified, helped them develop campaigns as bottom up not top down. Saw her role when forced into accepting the position as Director of Branches:
To increase the extent to which the present membership participates in national and local activities.... To extend the membership base so as to have local branches include a larger proportion fo people in any given community....To transform the local branches from being centers of sporadic activity to becoming centers of sustained and dynamic community leadership. (59-60)
She held a leadership conference in NY December of 1944, then others in Cleveland, Indianapolis and Atlanta in first half of 1945.
(For the full review, click here)
April 27, 2019
"Strong people do not need strong leaders." Only a very strong leader has the courage to live by such a principle and Ella Baker was one of the strongest. Ironically yet appropriately, her effectiveness is confirmed by the fact that few today remember her name. Those few are some of the most respected living activists from the Freedom Movement of the 1960s.
This is the first book I have read about Baker. I am so glad I have now filled in significant gaps in my knowledge of that seminal period of history. I feel like I know Miss Baker.
She never believed in building organizations, only the Movement. She invested herself in empowering others from behind the scenes. She touched thousands of lives through her indefatigable labors as part of the NAACP, the SCLC, SNCC and the MFDP.
"I believe that the struggle is eternal. Somebody else carries on."
This is the first book I have read about Baker. I am so glad I have now filled in significant gaps in my knowledge of that seminal period of history. I feel like I know Miss Baker.
She never believed in building organizations, only the Movement. She invested herself in empowering others from behind the scenes. She touched thousands of lives through her indefatigable labors as part of the NAACP, the SCLC, SNCC and the MFDP.
"I believe that the struggle is eternal. Somebody else carries on."
February 2, 2024
Ella Baker was known for her ability to organize and mobilize events for the civil rights movement. In some ways she was ahead of her time. We should all be familiar with the Freedom Rides of 1961. But Ella Baker organized the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947 - 14 years before the Freedom Rides. Many of us are enamored with civil rights leaders like MLK Jr, but people like Ella Baker paved the way for MLK Jr to rise as a leader of the civil rights movement. The civil rights movement is indeed indebted to the work of people like Ella Baker.
March 20, 2025
For anyone who wants to get involved in activism, this book will provide you great insight into both what it takes along with the power of grassroots organizing. You’ll also learn of the politicking that goes into any sort of revolution. This book opened my eyes on how much it really takes to work together towards the same goal when many people within disagree on how to get there.
December 16, 2022
As history, it seems to be particularly good. Its readability is not especially striking, but the information is there and well presented.
February 16, 2017
Ella Baker is certainly an unsung hero of civil rights. She worked closely with the NAACP, SCLC, and SNCC, despite being dismissed by many fellow activists throughout her career because of her gender. She didn't believe in being the face of the movement, however, because her focus was on cultivating leaders in every community so the movement would never hinge on any one personality. She suffered great psychological and sometimes physical abuse at the hands of segregationists as she traveled all over the nation to guide local chapters of the NAACP. At the height of the movement, she found herself in the Deep South to help organize protests in Mississippi and Alabama. She became a constant presence at Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee meetings. She advised and also respected Dr. King, but was a vocal critic of what she perceived as hero worship in many of his followers. She took in a fifteen-year-old Freedom Rider who was unable to return to her family in McComb, MS, following her various arrests and jail time, and became a single parent to the teenager until it was safe for her to return to her home.
One of the images of her from this book that stands out to me the most is from a description by a former SNCC member. When she became the "mother of SNCC," she was no longer young and suffered from some health issues, mainly problems with her lungs. SNCC meetings tended to last hours and hours--one member even said they were best measured in days instead of hours. She would wear a hospital mask during these meetings because clouds of smoke would fill the room, as just about every student lit cigarettes for the duration of the meeting. She reportedly sat patiently and spoke almost exclusively when questions were directed at her. She wanted to be more of a facilitator than anything else, helping the students find the tools to formulate their own opinions and strategies. That is dedication.
I'm guilty of taking entirely too long to finish this book--I started it in December and just finished it in the middle of February. It can be dry at times, and it's not an exciting and action-packed history book. There isn't much that's wildly entertaining about it, but Baker was not about being flashy--she was about organizing as many people as possible and declining to really take any credit for it. She worked tirelessly for various organizations for little (or usually no) pay until her death in 1986. But I never did learn about her in school.
One of the images of her from this book that stands out to me the most is from a description by a former SNCC member. When she became the "mother of SNCC," she was no longer young and suffered from some health issues, mainly problems with her lungs. SNCC meetings tended to last hours and hours--one member even said they were best measured in days instead of hours. She would wear a hospital mask during these meetings because clouds of smoke would fill the room, as just about every student lit cigarettes for the duration of the meeting. She reportedly sat patiently and spoke almost exclusively when questions were directed at her. She wanted to be more of a facilitator than anything else, helping the students find the tools to formulate their own opinions and strategies. That is dedication.
I'm guilty of taking entirely too long to finish this book--I started it in December and just finished it in the middle of February. It can be dry at times, and it's not an exciting and action-packed history book. There isn't much that's wildly entertaining about it, but Baker was not about being flashy--she was about organizing as many people as possible and declining to really take any credit for it. She worked tirelessly for various organizations for little (or usually no) pay until her death in 1986. But I never did learn about her in school.
September 24, 2014
As an Organizer of Color I loved this book. Like many women of color in history, if you aren't looking hard for this kind of read, you may not come across her work in the mainstream conversation about Civil Rights. However, it is easy to see her impact. She is to be celebrated as she left this world with incredible change. She lead, taught, agitated her path to powerful revolution in this country.
August 6, 2015
Very inspiring to read about how Ella Baker, in every organization and movement she was part of, consistently worked toward a collaborative, bottom-up approach of actually listening to people and developing their own leadership (rather than the more centralized, hierarchical style that is so common still and was common in the civil rights movement as well).
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August 1, 2014Biog B1675m 2013
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews