April 15 has been designated Ella Baker Day in both Halifax and Warren counties and celebrations will begin in Littleton that evening at Lakeland Cultural Arts Center at 7 with a free viewing of Fundi, The Story of Ella Baker.
The theater will also be the venue for the April 20, 3 p.m., Black Cooperative Leaders Networking Workshop and an Ella Baker Honor's Gala at 5 p.m. to honor achievements in the Cooperative Movement.
(Tickets for both these events can be reserved or purchased at this link)
Food and a live band featuring the Mack Band will perform.
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Baker’s legacy includes more than 55 years of working towards social justice and equality. The day is also set aside to help foster understanding of cultural diversity and improving social justice.
Baker was born in Norfolk in 1903 and in 1908 lived in Littleton.
Often referred to as the Godmother of the Civil Rights Movement, she was involved in local, state and national capacities as a leader, educator and activist on behalf of underprivileged communities and citizens until she died in the state of New York on December 13, 1986.
A proclamation by the Halifax County Board of Commissioners from 2016 says that Baker dedicated her life to serving those less fortunate as an advocate to the American Federation of Labor, Works Progress Administration under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932-1938.
She was involved in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, and was a co-founder and organizer of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Voter Education Project.
She served more than 20 years as a National Field Secretary, National Director of Branches, African National Congress, Puerto Rican Solidarity Committee in 1972-1986 and numerous other organizations.
