Ms. Ella Baker Program–06/24/12

Born in 1903, Ms. Ella Baker grew up in a close-knit family. The family had long ties to the Littleton, NC area, where they were known to be quite active in church and social events. Though it is a small place, Littleton would always be known as “Home” to her, even when she decided to move to New York in her early 20’s. Ms. Baker would spend most of her adult life as a resident of Harlem.

Harlem may have been home, but she was eager to put all that she was learning into use in the Deep South. New York had exposed her to nearly every imaginable social philosophy, since she was constantly attending events and talks, where people talked about strategies for social change from every conceivable approach. Ms. Baker used her natural intelligence to take her into the field of organizing, going into the Deep South, working for a whole host of different organizations over the years.

Over time, she became well-known in organizing circles, working with nearly every person who was considered “somebody” all over the South. For example, Rosa Parks was a close personal friend, and credits Ms. Baker, in part, for her refusal to get up from her seat for a White man in Montgomery, an act that sparked The Montgomery Bus Boycott. The thing that makes Ms. Baker most remarkable, is that she was organizing in the Deep South in the 1930’s and 1940’s, often alone, a good ten to fifteen years BEFORE what is popularly known as “The Civil Rights Movement.” She was known to be able to identify and talk with people from any and every social class, and always made sure to leave whomever she had talked to with a deep sense of respect. Everyone who knew her talked about how she combined a brilliant mind with extraordinary people skills.

She worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, before taking an active role in advising the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, otherwise known as “Snick,” at her alma mater of Shaw University in Raleigh, NC. She was extremely aggressive in encouraging the students to create their own, independent group, separate and apart from SCLC, a point she rallied around successfully. Nearly every significant Civil Rights hero, had some contact with, or was influenced by Ms. Baker. When I take in all of the information that I know about her, to my mind, she is quite easily my favorite female hero from African-American History. I say this because I intuit a brilliant mind, that seemed to work similar to my favorite male hero, Malcolm X, combined with an extraordinary ability to relate, interact and talk to, the “ordinary” person, just as Malcolm could. I love that about Ms. Baker, and I’d encourage everyone to do some serious research on her life, because she is certainly worthy of the effort.

Ms. Ella Baker’s Homeplace, Littleton, NC 05/07/10