Ella Baker Quotes

In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed ... It means facing a system that does not lend its self to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.

I have always thought that what is needed is the development of people who are interested not in being leaders as much as in developing leadership in others.

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.

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.

I didn't break the rules, but I challenged the rules.

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.

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.

Strong people do not need strong leaders.

We who believe in freedom cannot rest.

Strong people don't need strong leaders.

The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use, and it could only be used if they understood what was happening and how group action could counter violence.

There is also the danger in our culture that because a person is called upon to give public statements and is acclaimed by the establishment, such a person gets to the point of believing that he is the movement.

One of the things that has to be faced is the process of waiting to change the system, how much we have got to do to find out who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.