Attitude Quote by Gail Collins
![“[Ella Baker]'s second defining characteristic was her dislike of top-down leadership... 'She felt leaders were not appointed but the rose up. Someone will rise. Someone will emerge'. It was an attitude Baker shared with some of the older women in the movement.” quote by Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cbe/gail-collins-3567_attitude_ella-baker-s-second-defining-characteris_2922893.jpg)
“[Ella Baker]'s second defining characteristic was her dislike of top-down leadership... 'She felt leaders were not appointed but the rose up. Someone will rise. Someone will emerge'. It was an attitude Baker shared with some of the older women in the movement.”
About This Quote
Source Article: New York Times, 2016
Effective leadership emerges organically from the grassroots rather than being imposed from above.
In simple terms: Leaders rise from the bottom up.
Key Takeaway
Support bottom‑up leadership.
Themes
leadership
grassroots
empowerment
Mood
analytical
inspirational
Type
political
organizational
When to use this quote
- community organizing
- political movements
- team building
- social activism
- organizational change
Key Concepts
participatory democracy
collective action
Questions to Reflect On
- How can grassroots leaders gain broader influence?
- What balance works between top‑down and bottom‑up approaches?
A Different Perspective
Top‑down structures can provide necessary coordination.
![“We look at the legacy of Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells and Ella Baker, Malcolm X and Martin King. We have, and part of the struggle now in the age of [Barack] Obama is how do we keep alive the legacy of Martin King?” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/23d/cornel-west-708_age_we-look-at-the-legacy-of-frederick-dougl_2704483.jpg)
