Quotes By and About Ella Baker
Awake youth of the land and accept this noble challenge of salvaging the strong ship of civilization by the anchors of right, justice, and love…. let us resolve that for the welfare of the whole, for the good of all, for the uplift of the fallen humanity, for the extension of Christ’s kingdom on earth…there shall be no turning back…we will strike against evil, strife and war until the cho shall resound in the recesses of the earth and…the waters of the deep
~ Ella Baker, excerpt from Valedictorian speech, 1927, (Source: Ransby, Barbara.Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Give people light and they will find a way.
~ Ella Baker, 1944 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.
~ Ella Baker, 1960 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become 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 radical 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 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Even if segregation is gone, we will still need to be free; we will still have to see that everyone has a job. Even if we can all vote, but if people are still hungry, we will not be free…Singing alone is not enough; we need schools and learning…Remember, we are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit, a larger freedom that encompasses all of mankind.
~ Ella Baker, (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
I didn’t break the rules, but I challenged the rules.
~ Ella Baker, 1977 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Howard Zinn said of Baker she was “more responsible than any other single individual for the formation of the new abolitionists [SNCC] as an organized group.”
(Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Stokely Carmichael said Baker “was just so overwhelming and ubiquitous in SNCC that it seems as if she was always present”
(Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
~ Ella Baker, excerpt from Valedictorian speech, 1927, (Source: Ransby, Barbara.Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Give people light and they will find a way.
~ Ella Baker, 1944 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.
~ Ella Baker, 1960 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become 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 radical 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 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Even if segregation is gone, we will still need to be free; we will still have to see that everyone has a job. Even if we can all vote, but if people are still hungry, we will not be free…Singing alone is not enough; we need schools and learning…Remember, we are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit, a larger freedom that encompasses all of mankind.
~ Ella Baker, (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
I didn’t break the rules, but I challenged the rules.
~ Ella Baker, 1977 (Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Howard Zinn said of Baker she was “more responsible than any other single individual for the formation of the new abolitionists [SNCC] as an organized group.”
(Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)
Stokely Carmichael said Baker “was just so overwhelming and ubiquitous in SNCC that it seems as if she was always present”
(Source: Ransby, Barbara. Ella Baker & The Black Freedom Movement)