As a woman, Ella Baker was marginalized and her contributions were often diminished by the traditionally male leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. However, her contributions to the movement are unprecedented. She planned protests and campaigns to support civil rights.
In fact, Baker almost resigned from her role as a leader of SCLC because of the sexism she experienced. Still, her hopes for change compelled her to continue working for the cause. She organized student leaders all over the South, and in a conference with these students, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, SNCC, was created. This group, under the direction of Baker, helped organize the Freedom Rides.
As an adult advisor to SNCC, Baker focused on empowering the youth and engaging all in the struggle for civil rights. She believed that the most oppressed people of a nation "had to be the ones to decide what action they were going to take." This idea of self-leadership inspired other leaders, like Stokely Carmichael, and other organizations, like the Students for Democratic Society during the Vietnam War.
With efforts so important and impacts so influential, it may be surprising that many Americans have never heard of Ella Baker. However, Baker never wanted to be in the limelight. She wanted to contribute to the cause without being put in the spotlight. In fact, her personal life was so hidden that nobody knew she was married for twenty years. And because of the marginalization of women during the mid-twentieth century, her contributions were often overlooked or ignored.
Her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement, however, are unparalleled, and she was a key leader in the movement. Ella Baker died in New York City in 1986 and she remained an advocate for social justice up until her death. Even after her death, her legacy of a commitment to full democracy for all Americans lives on.
Sources:
https://time.com/4633460/mlk-day-ella-baker/
http://blackhistorynow.com/ella-baker/
I thought this blog post was really interesting because, like you mentioned, I had not heard about Ella Baker before this class. Baker was truly an inspirational figure as she fought for a wide variety of causes. Upon further research, I found that she participated in the Third World Women's Coordinating Committee, a committee focused on helping women's rights in developing nations, as well as combatting things like imperialism and capitalism. She was also involved with the Puerto Rican Solidarity Committee for self-determination for Puerto Ricans. It is sad that she is still overlooked due to the sexist undertones of the movement, but I agree that her legacy lives on in an impactful way.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.biography.com/activist/ella-baker
Your post made me really interested in the idea of the unsung heroes of the civil rights movement, so I did a little research on another woman activist of the era, Pauli Murray. In 1940 she was arrested for sitting in the white-only section of a bus, and shortly after began her studies to become a civil rights and women's rights lawyer. Her book, States' Laws on Race and Color, was called the "bible" of the civil rights movement by the NAACP Chief Counsel. Overall, a very interesting figure whose behind-the-scenes contributions to the movement were nonetheless extremely influential.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray
Deletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauli_Murray