Ella's Daughters

As a group of Ella’s Daughters prepare to head to my hometown of Detroit for the US Social Forum, I have been thinking long and hard on the question of leadership. ‘Strong people don’t need strong leaders,’ Ella Baker insisted. This provocative quote from the veteran organizer, radical intellectual, teacher and mentor, is for many people, counter-intuitive. That is, it goes against our gut feeling about what leadership is or should be. But Baker’s message, based on her decades of activism, was that building a strong people is a greater insurance policy for movement longevity and honesty, than promoting ‘strong’ (all-powerful, Messianic, savior-type) leaders. As we navigate our way in the ever-changing terrain of 21st century global politics, Baker’s message is not only persuasive, and compelling, but at the end of the day, vitally necessary to the work we need to do. Building a strong people is one of the goals of Ella’s Daughters. Yes, social justice movements need leaders, if by leaders we mean organizers. Without a doubt, movements need deeply committed thinkers and strategists who situate themselves among, not above, ordinary people -- and organizers who listen and learn as much as they teach and talk. But, in Ella Baker’s view, the work of movement building is not something to put on your resume, enhance your individual power, or jettison your career. It is not even work you always need to “put your name on.” It is service work. It is work done quietly and humbly, in groups and collectively. It is not leadership from on high but leadership from within. And those of us who view ourselves as long distance runners in the struggle for social justice may take on different roles at different points in our lives. There are no ‘born leaders,’ or permanent leaders. There are not people destined to lead or others who are doomed to follow; but rather we can all give leadership, directions, support and facilitation to struggles in different ways, at different times. Writing and speechmaking are forms of leadership. Relationship-building is another. But can we also think of ‘support’ as a form of leadership? In other words, Ella Baker’s example suggests that we think of leadership itself as non-linear. For her leadership did not flow from the “pulpit to the pew.” She rejected the notion that Dr. King, a charismatic speaker and visionary, was “the” decisive force in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. “Martin didn’t make the movement,” she observed, “the movement made Martin.” Even though we are all potential leaders, there actually are skills and techniques that can make us more effective at what we do. But here we have to be careful because there is a kind of professional leadership development that can be both vacuous and shallow politically. In other words, teaching the generic techniques of leadership –public speaking, use of social media, fundraising etc. --- without any emphasis on content, ideas, politics and purpose, is limited at best. There are many effective leaders in the world. Some I wish were less effective. There are powerful orators that can motivate homophobes and lynch mobs. Effective fundraisers that build non-profit empires to ostensibly “save the poor,” while fattening their pockets and their egos. All of this is leadership but it is not the work of building a movement for transformative social change. So, a key part of leadership development has to involve deepening our understanding of the world, history, culture, theory and other people’s struggles. Leadership also has to include exercising our imaginations. We have to make time to imagine alternatives and better ways of doing things, as much as we spend time protesting the injustices of the status quo. We know, and Baker knew, we cannot build or rely solely on a leadership cadre of experts. I say this with full appreciation and respect for talent and expertise, from spoken word artists to environmental engineers. We need their skills and talents in our organizations and movements. But that does not substitute for or trump collective learning and decision making at the grassroots level. And those who are the longest-suffering and the most marginalized and beaten down by the powers that be have to be at the center of any movement to make serious social change. In Baker’s words “those under the heel” have to be in the leadership when it comes to getting that heel off their necks. But all of us have roles to play. The USSF has evolved in interesting ways over the past several years since the wonderful gathering in Atlanta in 2007. The sensitivities to process, inclusion and efforts to break down traditional hierarchies is very apparent, and very much in Ella Baker’s egalitarian and group centered leadership tradition. The Ella’s Daughters delegation is looking forward to a week of information, inspiration, and engagement with progressive sisters and brothers from around the country.