Born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1903, Ella Josephine Baker died 83 years to the day of her birth. Despite the fact that as a woman, she was expected by black ministers and community leaders to remain quietly in the shadows, Baker refused to sit idly by while the "men with clay feet" led the civil rights movement. No doubt, the significance of the day of her passing would not be lost on a firebrand such as Baker, who was never content to simply sit back in the shadows.
As a young child, Ella and her family moved from Norfolk to rural North Carolina where she spent a great deal of time with her grandmother, who related to her the tales of the horrible life on the plantation she grew up on. It was not so much the brutality or horrid treatment that moved Ella so. Rather, it was her grandmother's recounting of the severe beating received at the hands of her master when she refused to marry a man the master tried to force upon her. As such a young girl, Ella was confused and hurt at hearing the tale, but deep within her belly a fire began to burn.
As a young child, Ella and her family moved from Norfolk to rural North Carolina where she spent a great deal of time with her grandmother, who related to her the tales of the horrible life on the plantation she grew up on. It was not so much the brutality or horrid treatment that moved Ella so. Rather, it was her grandmother's recounting of the severe beating received at the hands of her master when she refused to marry a man the master tried to force upon her. As such a young girl, Ella was confused and hurt at hearing the tale, but deep within her belly a fire began to burn.