DOCSLIB.ORG

ELLA BAKER, 'BLACK WOMEN's WORK' and ACTIVIST INTELLECTUALS Author(S): Joy James Source: the Black Scholar, Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
ELLA BAKER, 'BLACK WOMEN's WORK' and ACTIVIST INTELLECTUALS Author(S): Joy James Source: the Black Scholar, Vol ELLA BAKER, 'BLACK WOMEN'S WORK' AND ACTIVIST INTELLECTUALS Author(s): Joy James Source: The Black Scholar, Vol. 24, No. 4, BLACK POPULAR MOVEMENTS (Fall 1994), pp. 8- 15 Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41069719 Accessed: 24-04-2019 22:29 UTC JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at https://about.jstor.org/terms Taylor & Francis, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Black Scholar This content downloaded from 137.165.164.2 on Wed, 24 Apr 2019 22:29:15 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms ELLA BAKER, 'BLACK WOMEN'S WORK' AND ACTIVIST INTELLECTUALS In my organizational work I have never thought in terms of my "making a contribution/' I just thought of myself as functioning where there was a need. And If I have made a contribution I think it may be that I had some influence on a large number of people. - Ella Baker ' by Joy James INTELLECTUALS AND Payne observes: POLITICAL CHOICE That Ella Baker could have lived the life she did and remain so little known even among the polit- BRILLIANT STRATEGIST in the civil rights ically knowledgeable is important in itself. It re- minds us once more of how much our collective movements, Ella Josephine Baker (1903- past has been distorted - and distorted in dis- 1986) was field organizer for the National As- empowering ways/ sociation for the Advancement of Colored Part of the distortion stems from which ac- People (NAACP) in the 1930s and 1940s, and the first director of the Southern Christian tors are privileged in political memory and Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the 1950s. knowledge. Reflecting the conservative/lib- She also acted as convener of the student eral bias that privileges men, whites and the conference in 1960 that lead to the forma- affluent, some male (SCLC) civil rights lead- tion of the Student Non-Violent Coordinat- ers and contemporary civil rights historians de-emphasized the role of African American ing Committee (SNCC), for which she women in this movement.4 For most, leader- served as advisor. Baker's "organizational ship and agency have been distorted as pri- work" expanded US democracy as well as marily the attributes of male political and in- helped to redefine and radicalize the roles tellectual elites. It is not surprising that the of intellectuals and activists in the civil rights era. Her radicalism transformed criticisms of contributions of radicals, particularly black women such as Miss Baker, who spoke and racism into critiques of both capitalism and organized not only against racism but also liberal acquiescence to oppressive state prac- capitalism and imperialism, go unrecognized. tices. Baker also channeled her critiques into Even the 'knowledgeable' may remember political opposition through civil disobedi- Miss Baker's political contributions in disem- ence and grassroots organizing for a demo- powering ways, i.e., in ways that de-radicalize cratic society. Merging rhetoric about black her political commitments. For some Miss liberation with activism, she embodied both Baker may represent the "organic intellectu- political worker and intellectual. al," described in Antonio Gramsci's Prison Ella Baker's influence on a large number Notebooks as the strategist whose theorizing to of people extends to generations who, know- end oppression forms the "ribs corseting the ing very little about or having never heard of masses." The organic intellectual as activist Miss Baker,- were shaped by her political works with a theoretical and experiential po- legacy. Miss Baker's obscurity is as instructive litical base, which is precisely how Ella Baker as her political thought and action. Charles positioned herself. However, Miss Baker PAGE 8 THE BLACK SCHOLAR VOLUME 24, NO. 4 This content downloaded from 137.165.164.2 on Wed, 24 Apr 2019 22:29:15 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms would likely reject as elitist any Gramscian from Jim Crow, EHa Baker left her home and characterization of her as a member of a po- a somewhat protected, privileged place in litical vanguard. One of her often cited Littleton, South Carolina for New York City. quotes is that "a strong people don't need In New York, she secured employment in the strong leaders." As an activist-intellectual menial and racially-sexually exploited labor, with democratic vision, Ella Baker's thought considered traditional "black women's reveals a strong sense of social change deter- work."6 mined by "ordinary" people who wage politi- Racist and sexist hiring policies - the few cal movements. Her relationships to impov- African American businesses tended to hire erished and militant workers forged political men for clerical workers with the bias that perspectives that identified African Ameri- men were, and should be, the primary can laborers and workers as political leaders. "bread winners" - meant that for several Such views on mass leadership shaped her fa- years Ella Baker's first and only paying job cilitation of grassroots activism for the was as a restaurant waitress. Rather than sub- NAACP, SCLC and SNCC; it also led to her mit to exploitation, Baker began organizing resignations from the NAACP and SCLC with other African American workers for whose bureaucratic leadership, in her esti- jobs and collective economic gains. Later ob- mation, refused to commit to grassroots po- taining factory work,7 and eventual employ- litical activism. (A study of her political life ment as a journalist and paid political orga- reveals the class, gender and ideological dif- nizer, Ella Baker gained a wide range of work ferences within the civil rights movement.) and social experiences. These traditional Ella Baker's preference to take her politi- and "non-traditional" jobs, along with orga- cal directives from poor or working class nizing with Harlem trade unionists during African Americans, rather than civil rights the Depression, deepened her understand- elites, led some to marginalize her. However ing of the economic exploitation in racism. her political instincts were grounded in po- At the height of the Depression, national litical lessons accumulated through activism production decreased by half, thousands in New York City during the Depression. were left homeless due to bank foreclosures Labor activism in Harlem planted the roots and millions were left jobless without com- of her praxis in the political-economic con- pensation. By 1933 an estimated 66% of the ditions and collective leadership of black "potential labor force of Harlem was unem- workers, youth and women. As a young, ployed."8 In 1935 over two million African black woman worker during this era, Baker Americans were on relief. Concentrated in used her own caste position to explore the northern cities - eleven had African Ameri- relevancy and efficacy of black liberation can populations of over 100,000 by the end politics. of 19359 - African Americans used their votes to increase the numbers of black city BLACK WORKERS AND LABOR ACTIVISTS officials; yet the majority were impoverished. Ella Baker's life time, "black In response to their conditions, largely un- women's work" generally meant fieldmitigated or by electoral politics, African Amer- domestic labor for whites (in the North icans it ex- formed Unemployed Councils which panded to include factory work). For supported a more multi-racial organizing and orga- privileged minority of African American nized nationwide "hunger marches" to agi- women it also included teaching, tate which for immediate emergency relief and un- brought both status and a reprieve fromemployment the compensation legislation.10 dehumanizing physical labor characterizing Ella Baker describes New York City in the black women's work.5 A college graduate 1930s, with its "race" men and women, social- from Shaw University, Ella Baker recognized ists, communists, and union activists, as a the limitations imposed on anti-racist stimulating educa- "hotbed of radical thinking."11 tors by white controlled school boards During and the Depression, Baker herself began rejected a teaching career. In 1927, to joiningconsider the structural nature of black ex- hundreds of thousands of black women mi- ploitation and the need for organized re- grating North in search of work and relief sponses to it: THE BLACK SCHOLAR VOLUME 24, NO. 4 PAGE 9 This content downloaded from 137.165.164.2 on Wed, 24 Apr 2019 22:29:15 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms I began to see that there were certain social Manhattan's African American population forces over which the individual had very little had been born in the South.17 control. It wasn't an easy lesson for me to learn but I was able to learn it. It was out of that con- According to Ella Baker, young African text that I began to explore more in the area of Americans joined the Young Negroes Coop- ideology and the theory of social change. So dur- erative League during the Depression be- ing the Depression years, I began to identify to cause they "were feeling the pinch, so when some extent with the unemployed, the organiza- tion of the unemployed. ." people feel the pinch they do certain things that they wouldn't do otherwise." The Faced with increasing economic hardship, league offered an alternative to Darwinian racist riots, hatred strikes, exclusion from production and consumption and necessity better paying jobs and unions by northern made it popular among young African Amer- white workers,13 and the racism of the federal icans.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • African American History Month Resources & Support Guide
    African American History Month Resources & Support Guide A Selected List of Resources Library Hours Contact Us Monday—Friday 7:30 am-10:00pm Website http://www.ntc.edu/library Saturday—Sunday 9:00am-3:00pm Email [email protected] Phone 715.803.1115 SUGGESTED TERMS 14th Amendment Black Influence on Pop Culture Shirley Chisholm Abolition/Abolitionists Black Lives Matter Jazz Slavery and Europe Abraham Lincoln Black Panther Party Jim Crow Slavery and United States African American Brown v. Board of Education Loving v. Virginia, 1967 Slaves and War African American migration Civil Rights Movement Malcolm X Suffrage 1940 and 1960 Civil War National Association for the State of Florida v. George Zim- African Americans and sports Advancement of Colored Peo- merman Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ple (NAACP) African Americans and war Underground Railroad Emancipation Proclamation Nelson Mandela Antebellum Urban housing Equal Protection Clause Poverty Apartheid Vel Phillips (Milwaukee) Frederick Douglass Sedition Barack and Michelle Obama Harlem CURRENT EVENTS As Barack Obama comes to Philadelphia, a look at his legacy Inside the Museum of African American History and Culture July 26, 2016 September 22, 2016 Source: Philadelphia Inquirer Source: Washington Informer Restoring Rights The new movie Loving chronicles the lengthy fight for interracial couples to get married in the U.S. Mildred and Richard Loving October 11, 2016 are the couple behind the landmark Supreme Court case Source: Wausau Daily Herald November 22, 2016 Source: CBS This Morning STREAMING
    [Show full text]
  • Martin Luther King Jr.'S Mission and Its Meaning for America and the World
    To the Mountaintop Martin Luther King Jr.’s Mission and Its Meaning for America and the World New Revised and Expanded Edition, 2018 Stewart Burns Cover and Photo Design Deborah Lee Schneer © 2018 by Stewart Burns CreateSpace, Charleston, South Carolina ISBN-13: 978-1985794450 ISBN-10: 1985794454 All Bob Fitch photos courtesy of Bob Fitch Photography Archive, Department of Special Collections, Stanford University Libraries, reproduced with permission Dedication For my dear friend Dorothy F. Cotton (1930-2018), charismatic singer, courageous leader of citizenship education and nonviolent direct action For Reverend Dr. James H. Cone (1936-2018), giant of American theology, architect of Black Liberation Theology, hero and mentor To the memory of the seventeen high school students and staff slain in the Valentine Day massacre, February 2018, in Parkland, Florida, and to their families and friends. And to the memory of all other schoolchildren murdered by American social violence. Also by Stewart Burns Social Movements of the 1960s: Searching for Democracy A People’s Charter: The Pursuit of Rights in America (coauthor) Papers of Martin Luther King Jr., vol 3: Birth of a New Age (lead editor) Daybreak of Freedom: Montgomery Bus Boycott (editor) To the Mountaintop: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Mission to Save America (1955-1968) American Messiah (screenplay) Cosmic Companionship: Spirit Stories by Martin Luther King Jr. (editor) We Will Stand Here Till We Die Contents Moving Forward 9 Book I: Mighty Stream (1955-1959) 15 Book II: Middle Passage (1960-1966) 174 Photo Gallery: MLK and SCLC 1966-1968 376 Book III: Crossing to Jerusalem (1967-1968) 391 Afterword 559 Notes 565 Index 618 Acknowledgments 639 About the Author 642 Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, the preeminent Jewish theologian, introduced Martin Luther King Jr.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedomways Magazine, Black Leftists, and Continuities in the Freedom Movement
    Bearing the Seeds of Struggle: Freedomways Magazine, Black Leftists, and Continuities in the Freedom Movement Ian Rocksborough-Smith BA, Simon Fraser University, 2003 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS In the Department of History O Ian Rocksborough-Smith 2005 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2005 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Ian Rocksborough-Smith Degree: Masters of Arts Title of Thesis: Bearing the Seeds of Struggle: Freedomways Magazine, Black Leftists, and Continuities in the Freedom Movement Examining Committee: Chair: Dr. John Stubbs ProfessorIDepartment of History Dr. Karen Ferguson Senior Supervisor Associate ProfessorIDepartment of History Dr. Mark Leier Supervisor Associate ProfessorIDepartment of History Dr. David Chariandy External ExaminerISimon Fraser University Assistant ProfessorIDepartment of English Date DefendedlApproved: Z.7; E0oS SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENCE The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies.
    [Show full text]
  • The Beautiful Struggle of Black Feminism: Changes in Representations of Black Womanhood Examined Through the Artwork of Elizabet
    Wayne State University Wayne State University Theses 1-1-2017 The Beautiful Struggle Of Black Feminism: Changes In Representations Of Black Womanhood Examined Through The Artwork Of Elizabeth Catlett And Mickalene Thomas Juana Williams Wayne State University, Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses Part of the African American Studies Commons, and the History of Art, Architecture, and Archaeology Commons Recommended Citation Williams, Juana, "The Beautiful Struggle Of Black Feminism: Changes In Representations Of Black Womanhood Examined Through The Artwork Of Elizabeth Catlett And Mickalene Thomas" (2017). Wayne State University Theses. 594. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses/594 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@WayneState. It has been accepted for inclusion in Wayne State University Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@WayneState. THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE OF BLACK FEMINISM: CHANGES IN REPRESENTATIONS OF BLACK WOMANHOOD EXAMINED THROUGH THE ARTWORK OF ELIZABETH CATLETT AND MICKALENE THOMAS by JUANA WILLIAMS THESIS Submitted to the Graduate School Of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan In partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of MASTER OF ARTS 2017 MAJOR: ART HISTORY Approved By: __________________________________________ Advisor Date © COPYRIGHT BY JUANA WILLIAMS 2017 All Rights Reserved DEDICATION To Antwuan, Joy, Emee, and Ari. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my advisor Dr. Dora Apel for her guidance, encouragement, and support throughout my graduate career, especially during the period of writing my thesis. Her support has been invaluable and I am eternally grateful. I also wish to thank my second reader Dr. Samantha Noel for always offering insightful commentary on my writings.
    [Show full text]
  • Malcolm X Bibliography 1985-2011
    Malcolm X Bibliography 1985-2011 Editor’s Note ................................................................................................................................... 1 Books .............................................................................................................................................. 3 Books in 17 other languages ......................................................................................................... 13 Theses (BA, Masters, PhD) .......................................................................................................... 18 Journal articles .............................................................................................................................. 24 Newspaper articles ........................................................................................................................ 32 Editor’s Note The progress of scholarship is based on the inter-textuality of the research literature. This is about how people connect their work with the work that precedes them. The value of a work is how it interacts with the existing scholarship, including the need to affirm and negate, as well as to fill in where the existing literature is silent. This is the importance of bibliography, a research guide to the existing literature. A scholar is known by their mastery of the bibliography of their field of study. This is why in every PhD dissertation there is always a chapter for the "review of the literature." One of the dangers in Black Studies is that
    [Show full text]
  • A Summary of the Contributions of Four Key African American Female Figures of the Civil Rights Movement
    Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-1994 A Summary of the Contributions of Four Key African American Female Figures of the Civil Rights Movement Michelle Margaret Viera Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Viera, Michelle Margaret, "A Summary of the Contributions of Four Key African American Female Figures of the Civil Rights Movement" (1994). Master's Theses. 3834. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/3834 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A SUMMARY OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF FOUR KEY AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALE FIGURES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT by Michelle Margaret Viera A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Department of History Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan December 1994 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My appreciation is extended to several special people; without their support this thesis could not have become a reality. First, I am most grateful to Dr. Henry Davis, chair of my thesis committee, for his encouragement and sus­ tained interest in my scholarship. Second, I would like to thank the other members of the committee, Dr. Benjamin Wilson and Dr. Bruce Haight, profes­ sors at Western Michigan University. I am deeply indebted to Alice Lamar, who spent tireless hours editing and re-typing to ensure this project was completed.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in the Modern Civil Rights Movement
    Women in the Modern Civil Rights Movement Introduction Research Questions Who comes to mind when considering the Modern Civil Rights Movement (MCRM) during 1954 - 1965? Is it one of the big three personalities: Martin Luther to Consider King Jr., Malcolm X, or Rosa Parks? Or perhaps it is John Lewis, Stokely Who were some of the women Carmichael, James Baldwin, Thurgood Marshall, Ralph Abernathy, or Medgar leaders of the Modern Civil Evers. What about the names of Septima Poinsette Clark, Ella Baker, Diane Rights Movement in your local town, city or state? Nash, Daisy Bates, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Bridges, or Claudette Colvin? What makes the two groups different? Why might the first group be more familiar than What were the expected gender the latter? A brief look at one of the most visible events during the MCRM, the roles in 1950s - 1960s America? March on Washington, can help shed light on this question. Did these roles vary in different racial and ethnic communities? How would these gender roles On August 28, 1963, over 250,000 men, women, and children of various classes, effect the MCRM? ethnicities, backgrounds, and religions beliefs journeyed to Washington D.C. to march for civil rights. The goals of the March included a push for a Who were the "Big Six" of the comprehensive civil rights bill, ending segregation in public schools, protecting MCRM? What were their voting rights, and protecting employment discrimination. The March produced one individual views toward women of the most iconic speeches of the MCRM, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a in the movement? Dream" speech, and helped paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and How were the ideas of gender the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
    [Show full text]
  • Grassroots Leadership and Political Activism in a Nonhierarchical
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by SHAREOK repository UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE ELLA BAKER AND THE SNCC: GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN A NONHIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Joan E. Charles Norman, Oklahoma 2007 UMI Number: 3278447 UMI Microform 3278447 Copyright 2007 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ELLA BAKER AND THE SNCC: GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN A NONHIERARCHICAL ORGANIZATION A Dissertation APPROVED FOR THE GRADUATE COLLEGE BY ________________________ Dr. Priscilla Griffith, Chair ________________________ Dr. George Henderson ________________________ Dr. Jiening Ruan ________________________ Dr. Susan Smith-Nash ________________________ Dr. Robert Terry @ Copyright by JOAN E. CHARLES 2007 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the chair of my committee, Dr. Priscilla Griffith for being the best advocate a candidate could have. Her positive reassurances, encouragement, insightfulness, and support have helped me through the many times when I was very confused and overwhelmed. I could not have done this dissertation without Dr. Griffith’s guidance. I would like to thank the members of my dissertation committee for their expertise and insights: Thank you Dr. George Henderson, I am especially grateful for the meetings that we had in the early days when you gently pushed me to narrow my focus.
    [Show full text]
  • 'The Only Position for Women in SNCC Is Prone'
    ‘The Only Position for Women in SNCC is Prone’ 29 ‘The Only Position for Women in SNCC is Prone’: Stokely Carmichael and the Perceived Patriarchy of Civil Rights Organisations in America 1 Sabina Peck Second Year Undergraduate, 1 University of New South Wales There is the danger in our culture that because a person is called upon to give public statements and is acclaimed by the establishment, such a person gets to the point of believing that he is the movement ... There are those, some of the young people [of SNCC] especially, who have said to me that if I had not been a woman I would have been well known in certain places, and perhaps held certain kinds of positions. – Ella Baker, 19702 Until relatively recently, historiography concerning the Civil Rights movement and its organisations has been fairly devoid of the study of the participation of women, focusing instead on certain charismatic, notably black male individuals such as Martin Luther King Jnr., Stokely Carmichael and Malcolm X.3 Steven Lawson, for example, has traced the evolution of 1 Note the following abbreviations are used throughout the article: CORE- Congress of Racial Equality MFDP – Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party NAACP – National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People SCLC – Southern Christian Leadership Conference SNCC – Student Non-violent Co-ordinating Committee 2 Ella Baker, Developing Community Leadership, Taped interview with Gerda Lerner (December 1970) paragraphs 15 and 14, respectively. 3 Joan C. Browning explores the extent to which women’s activities have been glossed over in Civil Rights Historiography in her article, ‘Invisible Revolutionaries: White Women in Civil Rights Historiography’ Journal of Women’s History, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • The Complex Relationship Between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement
    The Gettysburg Historical Journal Volume 20 Article 8 May 2021 The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement Hannah Labovitz Gettysburg College Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ghj Part of the History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Recommended Citation Labovitz, Hannah (2021) "The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement," The Gettysburg Historical Journal: Vol. 20 , Article 8. Available at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ghj/vol20/iss1/8 This open access article is brought to you by The Cupola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The Cupola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Complex Relationship between Jews and African Americans in the Context of the Civil Rights Movement Abstract The Civil Rights Movement occurred throughout a substantial portion of the twentieth century, dedicated to fighting for equal rights for African Americans through various forms of activism. The movement had a profound impact on a number of different communities in the United States and around the world as demonstrated by the continued international attention marked by recent iterations of the Black Lives Matter and ‘Never Again’ movements. One community that had a complex reaction to the movement, played a major role within it, and was impacted by it was the American Jewish community. The African American community and the Jewish community were bonded by a similar exclusion from mainstream American society and a historic empathetic connection that would carry on into the mid-20th century; however, beginning in the late 1960s, the partnership between the groups eventually faced challenges and began to dissolve, only to resurface again in the twenty-first century.
    [Show full text]
  • Adam Fairclough. to Redeem the Soul of America: the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr
    whites in Kalispel country, Fahey writes that "in more than a generation, the traditional base of Indian life vanished." The very fact that Fahey takes the Kalispels' story well into the twentieth century is evidence enough to suggest that the Kalispel culture has not vanished, but like all cultures it has changed with time. Fahey's text contains a wealth of information and should not be overlooked hy persons interested in the Kalispel tribe. But because of its style and language, The Ka lispel Indians should be read with care. -Gretchen Harvey Arizona State University Adam Fairclough. To Redeem the Soul of America: The Southern Christian Leadership Conference and Martin Luther King, Jr. (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987) x, 509 pp., $35.00; $17.95 paper. Following David J. Garrow's 1986 Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, Bearing the Cross, Adam Fairclough makes extensive use of information gleaned from FBI wiretaps as well as other sources in an effort to peruse the soul of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and its president, Martin Luther King, Jr. Fairclough's subtitle is no accident, for he focuses at least as much on the SCLC as he does on King. Significantly, this emphasis causes him to add a chapter about the SCLC after King's death, a postscript not available in other books about King. Concentrating almost exclusively on the internal dynamics and structure of SCLC, Fairclough contrasts the flexibility and spontaneity of the SCLC to the bureaucratic rigidity of the NAACP. But he also presents the personal and political wrangles within SCLC that hampered its effectiveness.
    [Show full text]
  • ELLA BAKER, “ADDRESS at the HATTIESBURG FREEDOM DAY RALLY” (21 January 1964)
    Voices of Democracy 11 (2016): 25-43 Orth 25 ELLA BAKER, “ADDRESS AT THE HATTIESBURG FREEDOM DAY RALLY” (21 January 1964) Nikki Orth The Pennsylvania State University Abstract: Ella Baker’s 1964 address in Hattiesburg reflected her approach to activism. In this speech, Baker emphasized that acquiring rights was not enough. Instead, she asserted that a comprehensive and lived experience of freedom was the ultimate goal. This essay examines how Baker broadened the very idea of “freedom” and how this expansive notion of freedom, alongside a more democratic approach to organizing, were necessary conditions for lasting social change that encompassed all humankind.1 Key Words: Ella Baker, civil rights movement, Mississippi, freedom, identity, rhetoric The storm clouds above Hattiesburg on January 21, 1964 presaged the social turbulence that was to follow the next day. During a mass meeting held on the eve of Freedom Day, an event staged to encourage African-Americans to vote, Ella Baker gave a speech reminding those in attendance of what was at stake on the following day: freedom itself. Although registering local African Americans was the goal of the event, Baker emphasized that voting rights were just part of the larger struggle against racial discrimination. Concentrating on voting rights or integration was not enough; instead, Baker sought a more sweeping social and political transformation. She was dedicated to fostering an activist identity among her listeners and aimed to inspire others to embrace the cause of freedom as an essential element of their identity and character. Baker’s approach to promoting civil rights activism represents a unique and instructive perspective on the rhetoric of that movement.
    [Show full text]