num_pages: 470
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 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, from her early experiences in depression-era Harlem to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Ransby shows Baker to be a complex figure whose radical, democratic worldview, commitment to empowering the black poor, and emphasis on group-centered, grassroots leadership set her apart from most of her political contemporaries. 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.
language: English
title: Ella Baker And The Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision
titlecomplete: Ella Baker And The Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (Gender & American Culture)
genres: Social Justice, Feminism, History, Race, American History, African American, Womens, Biography, Nonfiction, Politics
ratings_count: 1542
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Joan Kelly Memorial Prize in Women's History, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: James A. Rawley Prize, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Lillian Smith Book Award, awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Liberty Legacy Foundation Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Letitia Woods Brown Book Prize
publisher: Univ of North Carolina Pr