In many respects, the goals of the Positive Psychology movement and the goals of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement are the same: to bring about a world in which everyone can flourish, thrive, and experience wellbeing. Civil Rights movement activists organized and struggled for decades to bring about a society in which each person, in the famous words of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., can be judged by “the content of their character instead of the color of their skin.”
We tend to focus on the most recognizable leaders of the movement, like M.L.K., Jr. However, what gave this movement its tremendous power was the fact that it inspired thousands of ordinary people to stand up for their own dignity and humanity. Through the tireless, behind-the-scenes work of organizers such as Ella Baker, ordinary people, representing the most marginalized groups in American society, were able to cultivate the sense of personal agency that allowed them to believe that they could bring about more justice and fairness.
Although her work predated the field of positive psychology, Ella Baker’s vision was grounded in many of the same principles. Often referred to as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” Ella believed it was essential to help every individual, and especially the most disenfranchised, to understand their own unique strengths and talents, and to believe in their own capacity to be leaders within the movement and within their communities.
If the VIA Character Strengths Survey had existed back then, it could have been leveraged as a powerful tool for helping people recognize their strengths. By imagining how Ella Baker might have used this tool and the science of character strengths, what lessons can we learn today about how the positive psychology movement can help cultivate a world in which every person can flourish?