nPosted on December 13, 2018
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Key points
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More than half a century of civil and human rights activism!!
More than half a century of civil and human rights activism!!n
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nWow!
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nToday’s famous birthday was born on this date in 1903. Ella Baker worked mostly behind-the-scenes organizing people against racism and sexism and even classism (discrimination based on economic class).
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nShe worked alongside some way famous leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and W.E.B. Du Bois. She promoted grassroots organizing rather than having a few charismatic leaders that people applaud. And she went after sexism and classism within the Civil Rights Movement.
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nHere are a few of Baker’s accomplishments:
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- Baker worked as an editor on newspapers and news magazines.
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- She became the national director of the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League.
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- She worked as a director of branches for the NAACP and helped form the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
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- Later, she worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and a education funding organization. She also helped organize a political party.
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- Baker supported the Puerto Rican independence movement, spoke out against apartheid in South Africa, and was active within women’s rights organizations. She even helped form a socialist political organization and worked with others to demand the release of activist and writer Angela Davis, who had been arrested for being a communist. (Davis represented herself in court and was found Not Guilty. Actually, being a communist shouldn’t be against the law – but I digress!)
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nSoak up some Ella Baker wisdom…
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nAlso on this date:
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nnRepublic Day in Malta
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nArtist Emily Carr’s birthday
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nAnniversary of a prophecy by Dickens
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nSaint Lucia Day in Scandinavian countries
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nAnniversary of the startup of production of Susan B. Anthony dollars
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nAnniversary of Tasman’s “discovery” of New Zealand
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nAnniversary of the Invention of Simon Beck’s Snow Art
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nAnniversary of the last (so far) Moonwalk
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