Ella Baker Civil Rights Movement Analysis

History has created an idealized representation of the Civil Rights movement as being a grand movement of the entire black society coming together to show the world they want to be recognized for having basic human rights. This romanticized ideology of the Civil Rights movement is lovely in theory, however, it is one that is very dangerous to the fight that still exist today for black rights. According to Tommie Shelby in his book We Who Are Dark: The Philosophical Foundations of Black Solidarity identifies two ideologies that led the Civil Rights movements; strong black nationalism, weak black nationalism. Shelby explains strong black nationalism to be a political program that promotes black solidarity and believed in separating themselves
However, Professor William Chafe of Duke University credits Ella Baker specifically as being the founder of the SNCC. In fact, Professor Chase credits Ella Baker to be, “the mother of the civil rights movement.” Baker had assisted King with the SCLC but quickly grew irked with the styles of King and the other ministers; she thought their practices to be competitive and counterproductive. Specifically Baker claimed these leaders were “prophets with clay feet,” she didn’t believe they made enough progress for the movement because they lacked inspiring the black communities. The SNCC was initiated by the student of NC AT&T University who refused to give up their seats at a lunch counter when they were refused service. Inspired by this sit-in, Baker planned a meeting at her alma mater at Shaw University inviting student activists. Baker trained the student activist that joined the SNCC how to fight for social activism for themselves and then taught them to go and spread the word to other students throughout the south. The SNCC practiced their activism through sit-ins at segregated lunch counters and helping black to register to vote (trusting this would help sway Congress to pass the voting rights act). If I was forced to choose a side between the SCLC and the SNCC and judge who was
Prior to watching the biographical film “Malcolm X,” my understanding of Malcolm X was very little and my being taught of him even less. I grew up in a very small town in East Texas, a very rural area that was not surprisingly dominantly white. In school, I was taught very little about the Civil Rights movement and all the teachings was focused on Martin Luther King Jr. Sadly, I had no previous idea or understanding of Malcolm X to even compare to the film. I understood the film to present Malcolm X to be an American hero. One of the scenes that I felt portrayed Malcolm X as an American hero, was after the scandals of the Nation of Islam that resulted in Malcolm’s leaving of the organization, talking with his wife Betty he said, “We had the best organization a black man’s ever had.” While it is easy for one to argue this with all the faults within the Nation of Islam, starting with it being a cult, one must give credit where credit is due. Malcolm X deserves full credit for the growth of the Nation of Islam, and putting aside all the flaws, one can’t deny that Malcolm’s teaching brought black societies together in a way that they never had been before. Arguably one could even claim that Malcolm taught black individuals more about their self-worth than any other Civil Rights Movement