Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
by Barbara Ransby
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Description
One of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century and perhaps the most influential woman in the civil rights movement, Ella Baker (1903-1986) was an activist whose remarkable career spanned fifty years and touched thousands of lives. A gifted grassroots organizer, Baker shunned the spotlight in favor of vital behind-the-scenes work that helped power the black freedom struggle. She was a national officer and key figure in the National Association for the Advancement show more of Colored People, one of the founders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a prime mover in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Baker made a place for herself in predominantly male political circles that included W. E. B. Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King Jr., all the while maintaining relationships with a vibrant group of women, students, and activists both black and white. In this deeply researched biography, Barbara Ransby chronicles Baker's long and rich political career as an organizer, an intellectual, and a teacher. Beyond documenting an extraordinary life, the book paints a vivid picture of the African American fight for justice and its intersections with other progressive struggles worldwide across the twentieth century. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Excellent review of Baker's activist career. Focusing on her leadership style and influence in a variety of different organization. Text does tend to jump around a little bit chronologically speaking but that's really just a minor personal peeve thing rather than a detriment to the text. I find that the greatest value of this book is the Bakers desire to empower people to be their own leaders and how she lived that praxis while navigating the various political affiliations of a 5 decade activist career.
Ella Baker! She was an amazing activist, and we could all learn so much from her...and by reading this book! It was an easy read, and packed full of information. A bit repetitive at points, but definitely worthy of about 4.5 stars.
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Author Information
5+ Works 513 Members
Dr. Barbara Ransby is the John D. MacArthur Chair and Distinguished Professor in the departments of African American studies, gender and women's studies, and history at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is the author of Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision and Making All Black Lives Matter: Reimagining show more Freedom in the Twenty-First Century. show less
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Awards
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
- Original publication date
- 2003
- People/Characters
- Ella Baker
- Important places
- Mississippi, USA
- Important events
- African-American Civil Rights Movement
- Epigraph
- In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become a part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed. This means that we are going to have to learn to think in radi... (show all)cal terms. I use the term radical in its original meaning— getting down to and understanding the root cause. It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.
Ella Baker, 1969 - First words
- Ella Baker spent her entire adult life tring to "change that system."
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Politics and Government, History, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir
- DDC/MDS
- 323.092 — Social sciences Political science Civil and political rights Civil Rights Biography And History Biography
- LCC
- E185.97 .B214 .R36 — History of the United States United States Elements in the population Afro-Americans Biography. Genealogy
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 325
- Popularity
- 97,388
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.07)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 10
- ASINs
- 2
