the call to direct action, not as a periodic response to crisis, but as part of a broader set of collective citizenship obligations and participation. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 53). She was also involved with the NAACP, in which she held the position of field secretary. She was later elected president of the New York branch. Ms. Baker can be characterized as a grass-roots activists, primarily because she was always concerned about the people within the community being directly involved in the movement. As she stated, “we tried to bring the NAACP back, as I called it to the people.” That was her main focus for bringing the New York Branch to Harlem, where it would be more visible to the community. The New York branch of the NAACP became one of the largest branches. She was critical of the national NAACP’s failure to emphasize the development of sell-sufficient local communities, and as a result, initiated a series of regional leadership conferences. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 60). Ella Baker’s concept of leadership was what she viewed as “group-centered leadership”. She believed that this pattern of leadership emphasized the role of the leader as a facilitator, as someone who brings out the potential in others. (Crawford, Rouse and Woods, p. 61). Ella Baker was also a part of SCLC in the latter 1950's, where she developed the “Crusade for Citizenship”, which was a drive to register black voters in the South. Although Ms. Baker was never seriously considered to be the acting director of SCLC, and only used as a holding action until the an appropriate minister could be found, she never let her focus and commitment sway from what was important to her, which was the movement. One of slogans that she used throughout her political work in the Civil Rights Movement, “Power to the People”, shows how dedicated she was to getting the people involved in fighting ...
