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FORGOTTEN FOREMOTHERS
Profiles of lesser-known heroines in the fight for women's rights
Ella Baker
As an assistant field secretary for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Ella “worked her way across the South, persuading ordinary folks that they could make extraordinary changes in their lives. It must be noted that, at the time, the act of joining the NAACP was a punishable act in many areas. Many were fearful, and rightfully so,” wrote Aprele Elliot inThe Journal of Black Studies, observing that “psychological barriers to protest” form when generations are brutalized on the whims of white people, including very active branches of the Ku Klux Klan in many states. “So, sometimes [in] as little as 3 minutes after a church service, [Ella] would make her appeal to the congregation.”
“The major job,” Ella said, “was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use.”
Throughout her life, Ella’s primary guiding principle was “power to the people.” You’ll notice that all her efforts have included educating others and giving them the knowledge to advocate and make choices for themselves. This continued to be her approach when, in 1942, she became the director of branches for the NAACP, a position in which she managed and supported all the various NAACP branches across the nation. In her style, she never swooped in to fix a branch’s problems, but instead, as Shyrlee put it, “[T]here might be a need for a traffic light in an area where blacks lived. Ella Baker would advise the branch on how to present the case to city officials.”
Ella “insisted that people help themselves and discover solutions to problems,” Aprele stated. “She abandoned the traditional NAACP strategy of appealing to the professional ranks and the notion that the ‘talented tenth’ would lead the masses. She wanted regular folks to become involved and wanted programs created to challenge people to begin helping themselves.”
Ella Baker continued her activism throughout her life, working with—and often founding—the most influential organizations of the civil rights movement. Photo above courtesy the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
To read this entire article go HERE.
Kathryn Gardiner
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