Ella Baker once said, “ Give light and people will find the way.” Ella was a respected activist who left an indelible footprint on society. A civil rights leader is “a leader of the political movement dedicated to securing equal opportunity for members of minority groups.” A civil rights activist is a person who dedicates their life to help better societal inequalities. Ella was a civil rights leader who wasn’t going to give up until the job was done.
Ms. Baker was born on December 13, 1903 in Littleton, North Carolina. She moved to Norfolk, Virginia at the age of eight and remained there through her high school years. She had an early involvement in justice due to her grandmother’s stories of slavery: refused to be put in an arranged marriage so she was brutally whipped. This was Ella’s
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Ella also supported the Non-Violence on College Campuses Group. In 1940, Ella was the secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and continued that for three years. Ella also had the great honor to be requested by Martin Luther King, Jr. to have the role of the Director of Branches for the NAACP In 1943 through 1946 after being the secretary for three years. She also co-funded with fellow activists against Jim Crow laws in the deep south. After Ella retired she still worked in the New York Urban League and Chapter 1 of the NAACP.
Ms. Baker closed five out of eight abusive black youth prisons. All the eight abusive youth prison where in the deep South. The Ella Baker foundation closed five and later that year the rest were shut down. Her foundation closed over 80% of child incarceration in California. Ella gave black students the right to go to school and protest for their rights. Her nickname was “Fundi” which means of generous spirit. Robert P. Moses from the New York Times stated, “Miss Baker took this style to a sophisticated level of political