Ella Josephine Baker
Personal Information
Born: 1903
Died: 1986
Country of Birth: USA
Nationality: USA
Ethnicity: Black
Education
Shaw University BA 1927
" "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." (wikipedia.org); "people under the heel" had to be the ones to decide what action they were going to take to get (out) from under their oppression" (wikipedia.org); “People cannot be free until there is enough work in this land to give everybody a job.” (allthatsinteresting.com); "
— Ella Josephine Baker
Professional Life
Field of Study: Civil Rights Activist
Institution/Corporation: Southern Christian Leadership Conference; NAACP; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: City College of NY (1985): Member: NAACP; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Young Negroes Cooperative League
Awards & Achievements
Awards: 1984 Candace Award, National Coalition of 100 Black Women; 1994 National Women's Hall of Fame
Achievements: promoted grassroots organizing, radical democracy, and the ability of the oppressed to understand their worlds and advocate for themselves; known for her critiques of both racism in American culture and sexism in the civil rights movement; founded the Negro History Club at the Harlem Library; 1964 helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) as an alternative to the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party; 1962 to 1967 worked as the staff of the Southern Conference Education Fund (SCEF). Its goal was to help black and white people work together for social justice; collaborated with Arthur Kinoy and others to form the Mass Party Organizing Committee, a socialist organization; supported the Puerto Rican independence movement and spoke out against apartheid in South Africa; 1955 cofounded the organization In Friendship to raise money for the civil rights movement in the South; helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee; director of the New York chapter of the NAACP in 1952; 1935 she co-authored with Marvel Cooke an exposé on the precarious situations of African-American domestic workers. Entitled "The Bronx Slave Market,"
worked alongside some of the most noted civil rights leaders of the 20th century, including W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph, and Martin Luther King Jr.
mentored Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, and Bob Moses among others
taught courses in consumer education, labor history, and African history
rarely discussed her private life or marital status
advocated widespread, local action as a means of social change
believed in egalitarian ideals
believed that the bedrock of any social change organization is not its leaders' eloquence or credentials, but the commitment and hard work of the rank and file membership and their willingness and ability to engage in discussion, debate, and decision-making
1946 took in her niece Jackie, whose mother was unable to care for her
known as the "Godmother of SNCC" (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee)
was a teacher and mentor to the young people of SNCC, influencing such important future leaders as Julian Bond, Diane Nash, Stokely Carmichael, Curtis Muhammad, Bob Moses, and Bernice Johnson Reagon
her philosophy was "power to the people"
1996, the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a nonprofit strategy and action center based in Oakland, California, was founded and named for her
Ella Baker School in the Julia Richman Education Complex in New York City was founded in 1996
2003, The Ella Jo Baker Intentional Community Cooperative, a 15-unit co-housing community was established in Washington DC
2009 was honored on a U.S. postage stamp
was nicknamed “Fundi,” a Swahili word meaning a person who teaches a craft to the next generation; died on her 83rd birthday
was close to her grandmother, a former slave, who told Baker many stories about her life, including a whipping she had received at the hands of her owner
often clashed with Martin Luther King and other male leaders of the SCLC
was a powerful behind-the-scenes force that ensured the success of some of the civil rights movement's most important organizations and events.
1935 she pretended to be a domestic worker while researching an article about the inequity Black women workers dealt with
Rosa Parks attended Baker's workshops in the 1940s
was regarded as a brilliant strategist, a radical intellectual, and superb organizer