When we remember the Civil Rights Movement, we think of leaders like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. Maybe we think about Rosa Parks and how she wouldn't give up her seat. The Civil Rights Movement wasn't the brainchild of one person, but a collaboration between many brave and intelligent people. This article shines a light on Ella Baker, a woman who coordinated many organizations and inspired generations of African American activists.
Ella Baker Facts
Ella Jo Baker was born on December 13, 1903, in Norfolk, Virginia. Her family moved to North Carolina, where Baker's grandma, "Bet," lived. Bet was an enslaved person until the Thirteenth Amendment freed her. She bought a chunk of land from her former owner for $250, which she would have to pay off in payments. The land was turned into a successful farm, which made Baker's family very proud.
Bet told Baker stories about her time as an enslaved person. Baker's grandmother refused to marry a man who her owner chose for her. As punishment, she was whipped and forced to do even heavier labor. Bet still enjoyed when the enslaved people had any form of celebration, and her former owners weren't able to break her spirit. Baker, as a child, took her grandmother's lessons to heart.
Fig. 1 - Ella Baker
Baker went to Shaw University, a historic Black college, where she challenged the racism that she saw. She graduated in 1927 as valedictorian and moved to New York City.
Elle Baker Civil Rights
The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use, and it could only be used if they understood what was happening and how group action could counter violence.”
-Ella Baker
In 1930, Ella Baker joined the Young Negroes Cooperative League, which was an organization of young African Americans that believed that Black economic development relied on African Americans working together. Baker became the field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Between 1943 and 1946, Baker was the director of Branches for the NAACP.
Black Freedom Movement
She co-founded the In Friendship organization to raise money to end Jim Crow Laws in the South. Martin Luther King, Jr. reached out to Baker in 1957 and asked her to be the organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Baker made herself indispensable by assisting with the organization and creation of many civil rights groups.
Jim Crow Laws:
Jim Crow Laws existed in the South and legalized segregation
What was the Southern Christian Leadership Conference?
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) began after the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott was caused when Rosa Parks was arrested for not giving up her seat on a Montgomery, Tennessee bus. The SCLC elected Martin Luther King, Jr. as its first president and committed to nonviolent protests.
Ella Baker SNCC
On February 1, 1960, four college students sat in a restaurant called Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina. The restaurant was segregated, and African Americans weren't allowed to dine at the counter. This sit-in got media attention and inspired three hundred plus college students to participate in thirteen different states.
These students were to remain non-violent, no matter what white hecklers would say or do. Drinks, condiments, and food were poured on them. Cigarettes were put out on their skin. The students involved in the sit-ins didn't react with violence, and by July of that year, restaurants were desegregated.
Older civil rights activists didn't see the potential in the college students, but Ella Baker stepped up to mentor them. She convinced Martin Luther King, Jr. to donate $800 to fund a conference and invited leaders from the sit-ins. King wanted them to commit to non-violence as a way of life and join the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Baker encouraged them to see the bigger picture.
Fig. 2 - Sit-In, Greensboro, North Carolina
Instead of joining the SCLC, the group decided to become its own organization. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee focused on coordinating college students to protest, and test the boundaries of anti-Jim Crow legislation, and voting campaigns.
The SNCC acknowledges that its foundation was created, partially, thanks to the Ella Baker conference at Shaw University. Baker saw what young college students could do and wanted to help them capitalize on it. The SNCC would go on to become one of the largest organizations in the Civil Rights Movement. It was responsible for countless sit-ins and even the freedom riders.
Who Were the Freedom Riders?
In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that buses must become desegregated. While the government was willing to state this, were they willing to support it? Freedom riders tested the ruling by riding on buses that had yet to desegregate. They faced opposition from white supremacists, like the Ku Klux Klan, eventually, President John F. Kennedy had to intervene. The President ordered protection for the Freedom Riders, who continued testing the Supreme Court ruling.
Voting Rights
Ella Baker believed that voting was a way to advance the civil rights movement. She encouraged African Americans to use their voices through voting. Baker was responsible for many voter campaigns. She also believed in enfranchising people to become self-advocates. Who knows your situation better than yourself? Baker coached people into becoming civil rights activists and taught them how to coach others.
Ella Baker Accomplishments
Ella Baker didn't commit her life to one organization, but to a cause. She believed in the rights of black people, and the way to accomplish that was through the enfranchisement of others. Baker didn't want to be a leader. She understood that she wouldn't be able to have a leadership position in organizations like the SCLC. She was a woman and wasn't a minister.
Instead, Baker focused on giving people the skills that they need to advocate for themselves. She inspired many generations after her and assisted with many organizations and campaigns. Baker died in her sleep on her birthday, December 13, 1986. Her legacy continues through the countless people that she inspired and encouraged, plus the Ella Baker Center, which continues to promote and campaign for Baker's beliefs and goals.
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 - Key Takeaways
- Ella Baker was the organizer for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
- Baker organized the first meeting and creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
- Baker inspired and coached African Americans into become civil rights activist who could advocate for themselves and their community
- Baker didn't want to be a leader or commit to one organization, but to commit to the Civil Rights Movement and coach others into becoming the advocates that they needed
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