Freedom Cannot Rest: Ella Baker and the Civil Rights Movement (Portraits of Black Americans) [Library Binding]

Lisa Frederiksen Bohannon (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 7 Up–Bohannon's biography joins Joanne Grant's 1998 work on the same subject. Both authors wrote about a life long neglected, but worth telling about. Baker was a major player in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. She was the principal organizer of SNCC, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. A selfless fighter for the rights of black Americans, her achievements have often been overlooked. The fact that she was a woman in male-dominated organizations certainly did not help. Lately, however, she has, like Bayard Rustin, become the subject of more critical scrutiny. Grant had the great advantage of knowing and working with Baker, and her biography has an almost elegiac quality. Bohannon is more objective and makes good use of vintage photographs, artwork, and text boxes that further explain historical events. For teens, her biography might be a good place to start to get a good overview of Baker's life and the times in which she lived. For readers who want a more detailed view of Baker's accomplishments, Grant's book is the logical next step.–Carol Jones Collins, Columbia High School, Maplewood, NJ
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Product Details

• Library Binding: 176 pages
• Publisher: Morgan Reynolds Publishing (January 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931798710
• ISBN-13: 978-1931798716
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,846,710 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling biography, December 20, 2005

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AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Freedom Cannot Rest: Ella Baker and the Civil Rights Movement (Portraits of Black Americans) (Library Binding)

As with most women in the Civil Right's Movement, the work of Ella Baker has been largely overlooked. Yet she worked tirelessly behind the scenes organizing, raising money, and raising awareness. She often traveled alone, which was dangerous for any woman in the early part of the 20th Century, and especially so for a black woman. She worked closely with mainstream organizations such as NAACP and the SCLC, but distrusted their topdown leadership style and often clashed with that leadership. She believed in group-centered leadership, and cultivated that approach as an advisor to youth organizations such as SNCC.

This book is clearly written and amply illustrated with period photos and artwork. In addition to being a compelling biography of Ella Baker, it also provides a concise overview of the Civil Rights Movement, particularly with regard to the various approaches and factions within the movement. It's about time that the women's voices of that era are heard, and this latest title from Morgan Reynolds' "Portraits of Black Americans" series is a great place to begin.