--- title: "8 Luther Quotes By Ella Baker" description: "8 Luther quotes by Ella Baker. Plus more from Ella Baker and more Luther sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg" --- > [After the '57 initial meeting - I was up this way working, not as a staff person - there became the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-this-way-working-not-as-a-staff/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg) > [The anniversary of the Montgomery boycott was being celebrated, and the handbill that was out, and all whatever literature that was circulated,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycott-was-being-celebrated-and/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/ella-baker-10989_adulation_the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycot_1222188.jpg) > [I think you can find some rationales for that if we look at the background out of which he came. Martin \[Luther…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for-that-if-we-look-at-the/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2a/ella-baker-10989_backgrounds_i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for_1379504.jpg) > [Unless you had developed a certain independence of value, a certain independent system of value, a system of values that was independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-independence-of-value-a-certain/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/ella-baker-10989_accepted_unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-indep_1655018.jpg) > [ In your short stay in Atlanta, I'm sure you saw that there was great competition between Martin's \[Luther King\] father and John… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-you-saw-that-there-was-great/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/ella-baker-10989_amount_in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-y_1895418.jpg) > [ Martin \[Luther King\] wasn't, basically, the kind of person - certainly at the stage that I knew him closest - wasn't the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the-kind-of-person-certainly-at/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/ella-baker-10989_closest_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the_1963460.jpg) > [ \[Martin Luther\] King was one of the two young ministers - and you know how directly oriented the Negro community still is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-young-ministers-and-you-know/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/ella-baker-10989_community_martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-yo_2621610.jpg) > [ Martin \[Luther King\] wasn't one to buck forces too much. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-forces-too-much/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/ella-baker-10989_bucks_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-fo_3113701.jpg) ## Other authors on Luther ## More by Ella Baker > [In order to see where we are going, we not only must remember where we have been, but we must understand where we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/in-order-to-see-where-we-are-going-we-not-only-must-remember-where-we/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [The major job was getting people to understand that they had something within their power that they could use, and it could only be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/the-major-job-was-getting-people-to-understand-that-they-had/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [After the '57 initial meeting - I was up this way working, not as a staff person - there became the need for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-this-way-working-not-as-a-staff/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [My theory is, strong people don't need strong leaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/my-theory-is-strong-people-don-t-need-strong-leaders/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [Oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/oppressed-people-whatever-their-level-of-formal-education-have-the/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [I went to what is known as, and was at that time, too, Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina. In fact, because of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-went-to-what-is-known-as-and-was-at-that-time-too-shaw-university/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [Strong people don't need strong leaders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/strong-people-don-t-need-strong-leaders/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [His name was Michael R. Ross. I've never known what the "R" was for. He died, however, before I was 7. But he and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/his-name-was-michael-r-ross-i-ve-never-known-what-the-r-was-for-he/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [I guess the best way to describe that would be to connect with the fact that I came out of college just before the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-guess-the-best-way-to-describe-that-would-be-to-connect-with-the/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [I had been friendly with people who were in the Communist party and all the rest of the Left forces, which were oriented in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-had-been-friendly-with-people-who-were-in-the-communist-party-and/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [ I didn't have any close relationship with him because, although \[William Edward Burghardt\] DuBois may not have been as egocentric - I don't know… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-didn-t-have-any-close-relationship-with-him-because-although/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [ \[Walter White\] was also one of the best lobbyist of the period. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/walter-white-was-also-one-of-the-best-lobbyist-of-the-period/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [I think, to be honest, sort of emanated from the initial work of somebody else instead of SCLC. If you take Albany; I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-think-to-be-honest-sort-of-emanated-from-the-initial-work-of/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/we-who-believe-in-freedom-cannot-rest-until-it-comes/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) > [I didn't break the rules, but I challenged the rules.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-didn-t-break-the-rules-but-i-challenged-the-rules/) [Ella Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-baker/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther/ella-baker/#itemlist", "name": "8 Luther Quotes By Ella Baker", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "After the '57 initial meeting - I was up this way working, not as a staff person - there became the need for a much more definite organized office. What you'd had prior to that time were these big meetings in different places, and there was nobody to pull anything together. Everything was left to [Martin Luther] King and the group that was around him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-this-way-working-not-as-a-staff/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“After the '57 initial meeting - I was up this way working, not as a staff person - there became the need for…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The anniversary of the Montgomery boycott was being celebrated, and the handbill that was out, and all whatever literature that was circulated, didn't say practically anything about movement or what the movement stood for, what it had done, or anything, but was simply adulation of the leader, you know, [Martin Luther] King.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycott-was-being-celebrated-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/ella-baker-10989_adulation_the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycot_1222188.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/ella-baker-10989_adulation_the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycot_1222188.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b75/ella-baker-10989_adulation_the-anniversary-of-the-montgomery-boycot_1222188.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The anniversary of the Montgomery boycott was being celebrated, and the handbill that was out, and all…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think you can find some rationales for that if we look at the background out of which he came. Martin [Luther King] had come out of a highly competitive, black, middle-class background.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for-that-if-we-look-at-the/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2a/ella-baker-10989_backgrounds_i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for_1379504.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2a/ella-baker-10989_backgrounds_i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for_1379504.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2a/ella-baker-10989_backgrounds_i-think-you-can-find-some-rationales-for_1379504.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think you can find some rationales for that if we look at the background out of which he came. 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In fact, none that I could ever see, and at certain points I was close enough to see something.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-independence-of-value-a-certain/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/ella-baker-10989_accepted_unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-indep_1655018.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/ella-baker-10989_accepted_unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-indep_1655018.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0b6/ella-baker-10989_accepted_unless-you-had-developed-a-certain-indep_1655018.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Unless you had developed a certain independence of value, a certain independent system of value, a system of…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In your short stay in Atlanta, I'm sure you saw that there was great competition between Martin's [Luther King] father and John Wesley Dobbs in terms of family status. You know, the bragging about whose child got a master's degree first and whose child, maybe, was the first Ph.D. Out of a background like that, the business of becoming a chairman of an important movement or a movement that symbolizes a certain amount of prestige is something you don't resist easily.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-you-saw-that-there-was-great/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/ella-baker-10989_amount_in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-y_1895418.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/ella-baker-10989_amount_in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-y_1895418.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/422/ella-baker-10989_amount_in-your-short-stay-in-atlanta-i-m-sure-y_1895418.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In your short stay in Atlanta, I'm sure you saw that there was great competition between Martin's [Luther…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 6, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Martin [Luther King] wasn't, basically, the kind of person - certainly at the stage that I knew him closest - wasn't the kind of person you could engage in dialogue with, certainly, if the dialogue questioned the almost exclusive rightness of his position.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the-kind-of-person-certainly-at/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/ella-baker-10989_closest_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the_1963460.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/ella-baker-10989_closest_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the_1963460.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/40f/ella-baker-10989_closest_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-basically-the_1963460.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Martin [Luther King] wasn't, basically, the kind of person - certainly at the stage that I knew him closest…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 7, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "[Martin Luther] King was one of the two young ministers - and you know how directly oriented the Negro community still is towards the minister as the leader.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-young-ministers-and-you-know/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/ella-baker-10989_community_martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-yo_2621610.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/ella-baker-10989_community_martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-yo_2621610.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/70f/ella-baker-10989_community_martin-luther-king-was-one-of-the-two-yo_2621610.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“[Martin Luther] King was one of the two young ministers - and you know how directly oriented the Negro…” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Martin [Luther King] wasn't one to buck forces too much.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ella Baker" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-baker/martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-forces-too-much/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/ella-baker-10989_bucks_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-fo_3113701.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/ella-baker-10989_bucks_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-fo_3113701.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ae/ella-baker-10989_bucks_martin-luther-king-wasn-t-one-to-buck-fo_3113701.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Martin [Luther King] wasn't one to buck forces too much.” — Ella Baker", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } } ] }, { "@type": "CollectionPage", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther/ella-baker/#webpage", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther/ella-baker/", "name": "Luther Quotes by Ella Baker", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/luther/ella-baker/#itemlist" }, "primaryImageOfPage": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1e3/ella-baker-10989_bigs_after-the-57-initial-meeting-i-was-up-th_183532.jpg" }, "description": "8 Luther quotes by Ella Baker. 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