FROM HUMBLE TO THE HONORABLE - MS. ELLA J. BAKER By Carolyn Ross-Holmes
C
oming from a small town may be one of the best ways to learn about yourself and from others. It produces a kind of wisdom that you will eventually pass on to someone else. Ella Josephine Baker did just that with people she met throughout her life in her role as a friend, mentor, great-aunt, cousin, co-worker, community organizer and social justice and human rights activist. Ms. Baker was born on Dec. 13, 1903. A graduate of Shaw University, she played a key role in civil and human rights organizations across the nation working alongside noted civil rights leaders W.E.B Du Bois, Thurgood Marshall, A. Philip Randolph and Martin Luther King Jr. She is ranked as one of the most important African American leaders of the twentieth century having mentored many emerging activists including Diane Nash, Rosa Parks Bob Moses and Stokely Carmichael through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She was born right here in the small town of Littleton N.C. – great things can generate from small places. A woman of great wisdom, she was fond of saying “Give light and people will find the way.” Ms. Baker believed in getting things done and left
a profound mark on all those who knew her, especially those where were blessed to be close. During a recent forum her great-niece, Dr. Carolyn Brockington spoke at a panel discussion about Ms.Baker.She described her great-aunt, who was very much a part of her childhood, as a patient woman and good listener. Dr. Brockington said Ms. Baker instilled the value of a good education and said that she encouraged her to achieve beyond the limits of her own past. Ms. Baker watched with pride, as she did with all those she taught, as Dr. Brockington progressed to become a successful neurosurgeon and renowned researcher. Preserving Ms. Baker’s legacy has become an important goal to many in the community and her childhood home in Littleton continues to be maintained by her great-niece. There are plans for its restoration and development as a historic destination for educators and families and an Ella Baker Historic Highway marker has been placed on Highway 158 East located near the home. Ms. Baker’s legacy as facilitator and a resource for community engagement are set the tone of Ella Baker Day events held on April 15 each year and organized by the Ella Baker Educational Project of NC, Inc. Hearth & Vine 27 Summer 2019
