Making a Life, Not Making a Living: The Servant Leadership of Ella Baker.

In the past decade, scholars have turned their attention to researching and writing about Ella Baker's largely behind-the-scenes role in the sixties civil rights movement, and deservedly so. Previously, her story was grossly underrepresented in the voluminous publications, films and oral histories that document that period. Thankfully that has changed. Now there are numerous biographies and even a film about Ella Baker's life. She deserves formal recognition; after all Baker devoted her entire working life to serving the causes of black freedom and civil rights. To be included in the 2009 revised edition of Servants of the People: The 1960s Legacy of African American Leaders (St. Martin's/Palgrave Press), authored by me, this profile explores the Baker civil rights legacy, especially her monumental role in the founding of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. It grapples with the following questions: What bred in Ella Baker a gritty, stubborn determination and passionate commitment to be of service to others? How did she nurture and sustain young civil rights activists? What philosophy guided her work with people and organizations? Finally, what was her enduring legacy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]