One thing I am noticing while looking
through civil rights people for these posts is that there were a lot
of women involved. This one is about Ella Jo Baker. She was born on
December 13th 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia. Hearing stories about her
grandmother that was a slave inspired her to fight for justice. While
studying at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina she fought
against unfair school policies. She graduated as a valedictorian and
continued fighting not just for Black rights but rights for women as
well by joining Young Negroes Cooperative League. This was a battle
that women like her had that sucked because she was dealing with two
strong social issues at once.
By 1940 she was involved with the NAACP
as a field secretary and then as a director of branches for a few
years. In 1955 she co-founded In Friendship which was an organization
to fight Jim Crow Laws (I'll have to do a whole 'nother post about
those). There is a quote of her that I really like and think people
can take a lot from today. “You didn't see me on television, you
didn't see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to
play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I
hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don't need
strong leaders.”
Click here for previous Random Civil Rights Moments.
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