Ella Baker

Ella Baker

The book Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision, by Dr. Barbara Ransby was an incredible and extremely moving book. I really enjoy learning about history and significant people who have impacted the history and culture of our country. However, I have never learned of Ella Baker nor have I ever heard her name mentioned once. Barbara Ransby’s book provides a well-structured and insightful biography of one of the most important, yet least well-known, leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. After reading Ransby’s book, I have learned of the immense contributions that Ella Baker has contributed to history, more specifically the Civil Rights Movement. Furthermore, I have gained a greater understanding of the continuing relevance of her life’s work. Ella Baker has achieved many goals throughout her life time, has overcome numerous obstacles, played a major role in building and leading many organizations through the civil rights movement. Ella Baker was a revolutionary and this is made apparent through Ella Baker’s biography written by Barbara Ransby. The author did a remarkable job portraying Ella Baker’s life and struggle for civil rights.

There were several reoccurring themes that showed up in this novel. First was the idea of a group centered leadership. With this idea Ella baker was trying to bring democracy to organizations. The second theme that was prevalent in the lack of power men were willing to give women during the early civil right battle. Last theme that appeared was the idea of human transformation. Laws and institution might change but the goal should be to change the heart of people.

Baker had her influences on over thirty civil rights organizations. She also played a major for in three of the biggest one such as the NAACP, SCLC, and SNNC. Baker role in building the NAACP in the 1940s, particularly in the South, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the late 1950s and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960s always seemed to be under appreciated because of her gender. Ransby explains, her leadership was of a different kind than that of many of her colleagues, particularly within the NAACP and the SCLC. Ella Baker spent her entire adult life trying to change racial discrimination and segregation. Radical change for Ella Baker was about a relentless and expanded course of dialogue, debate, consensus, reflection, and struggle. Ella Baker understood that laws, structures, and institutions had to change in order to correct inequality and oppression, but part of the process had to involve oppressed people into the notion of democracy and finding their own individual and collective power to determine their lives She worked with the northern labour politics in the 1940's, and later with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Although Ms. Baker worked with SCLC, she clashed with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because she did not believe in the one great leader model of social change. Mrs. Baker instead wanted to work to empower thousands of ordinary people to speak out. . The male leaders of these organizations didn’t appreciate what Baker called, group-centered leadership. For much of her career she functioned as an "outsider within." Baker wanted to involve many in the process of change. Ella Baker held an affinity for the most oppressed sectors of her society. Ella wanted to democratize the organization by empowering local and regional leader by emphasizing grassroots struggles. Mrs. Baker pushed for organization to look at the bottom