Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement, Second Edition

A Radical Democratic Vision

Barbara Ransby

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781469681344
• eBook ISBN: 9781469681351
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

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. Making her way in predominantly male circles while maintaining relationships with a vibrant group of women, students, and activists, Baker was a national officer and key figure in the NAACP, a founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and a prime mover in the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

In this definitive biography, Barbara Ransby chronicles Baker’s long and rich career, revealing her complexity, radical democratic worldview, and enduring influence on group-centered, grassroots activism. Beyond documenting an extraordinary life, Ransby paints a vivid picture of the African American fight for justice and its intersections with other progressive struggles worldwide throughout the twentieth century.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Praise for Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. Now, Who Are Your People?: Norfolk, Virginia, and Littleton, North Carolina, 1903–1918
• 2. A Reluctant Rebel and an Exceptional Student: Shaw Academy and Shaw University, 1918–1927
• 3. Harlem during the 1930s: The Making of a Black Radical Activist and Intellectual
• 4. Fighting Her Own Wars: The NAACP National Office, 1940–1946
• 5. Cops, Schools, and Communism: Local Politics and Global Ideologies—New York City in the 1950s
• 6. The Preacher and the Organizer: The Politics of Leadership in the Early Civil Rights Movement
• 7. New Battlefields and New Allies: Shreveport, Birmingham, and the Southern Conference Education Fund
• 8. Mentoring a New Generation of Activists: The Birth of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, 1960–1961
• 9. The Empowerment of an Indigenous Southern Black Leadership, 1961–1964
• 10. Mississippi Goddamn: Fighting for Freedom in the Belly of the Beast of Southern Racism
• 11. The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and the Radical Campaigns of the 1960s and 1970s
• 12. A Freirian Teacher, a Gramscian Intellectual, and a Radical Humanist: Ella Baker’s Legacy
• Appendix. Ella Baker’s Organizational Affiliations, 1927–1986
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index