Ella Baker

 Ella Baker is on an active civil rights leader in the 1930's and fought for civil rights for five decades, working alongside W.E.B Dubois, Thurgood Marshall, and Martin Luther King, Jr. She was a tireless fighter for social equality for African-Americans in the United States. She even mentored well-known civil rights activist, Rosa Parks. Baker's work--supporting local branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), working behind the scenes to establish the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and mentoring college students through the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)--helped move the Civil Rights Movement forward. Ella Baker is quoted as saying, “You didn’t see me on television; you didn’t see news stories about me. The kind of role that I tried to play was to pick up pieces or put together pieces out of which I hoped organization might come. My theory is, strong people don’t need strong leaders.”