Ella Baker

“I have always felt it was a handicap for oppressed peoples to depend so largely upon a leader, because unfortunately in our culture, the charismatic leader usually becomes a leader because he has found a spot in the public limelight.”

“The struggle is eternal. The tribe increases. Somebody else carries on.”

“The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use.”

“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.”

“Even if you are not doing anything else, you are seeing people and you are letting them see you.”

“Strong people don't need strong leaders.”

“Give light and people will find the way.”

“We who believe in freedom cannot rest.”

“Until the killing of black men, black mothers' sons, becomes as important to the rest of the country as the killing of a white mother's son, we who believe in freedom cannot rest.”

“In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have been.”

“Oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for what it is, and move to transform it.”

“This may only be a dream of mine, but I think it can be made real.”

“One of the things that has to be faced is the process of waiting to be selected. The kind of leadership that is based on the charisma of the leader and the selecting of the leader is not a sound basis for an organization.”

“Remember, we are not fighting for the freedom of the Negro alone, but for the freedom of the human spirit a larger freedom that encompasses all mankind.”