Instruct students to research the term intersectionality and then define it, first individually and then as a class. Tell them that they will now examine an intersectional critique of the leadership of the civil rights movement from the perspective of a Black woman. Read Ella Baker’s comments on radical thinking aloud to the class. As a full group, discuss the following questions:

• According to Baker, who does “the system” exist to serve?
• Why does this make change difficult?
• What methods does Baker suggest? Does she agree more with nonviolence or Black Power?

Then distribute the Interview with Ella Baker and have students read it independently. Have students write a letter to a newspaper to amplify Baker’s views. The letter should include:

• A description of the problem of race relations, according to Baker
• An evaluation of the current leadership of the civil rights movement, including what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and Stokely Carmichael have done well and a critique of their work
• The role that women and ordinary people should play to improve the movement
• A comment on the need for an intersectional approach to the civil rights movement

Have students share their letters with the class or in small groups. Discuss to what extent the civil rights movement was an intersectional social movement.