One hundred years ago, 10,000 state-sponsored White supremacists destroyed a prosperous Black neighborhood in Tulsa, OK. The history of the Tulsa Race Massacre .- when a white mob attacked the thriving Greenwood district, burned it to the ground, killing an estimated 300 of its black residents - was not part of my public school curriculum. In fact I was not taught about any major Black historical events of any kind. To include the full history of Black oppression would hav

I am the proud daughter of a 33-year career Navy veteran, Lt. Cmdr. Earl Ross Baker. The photo shows the cherished display case with his military medals. In my first book, An Unintentional Accomplice: A Personal Perspective on White Responsibility, I wrote about the pageantry of daily flag ceremonies for the children of the neighborhood led by my father. When I think back on those post-WWII days, I’m reminded of who I am and where I come from. I feel pride when I see the flag

You know who you are. Those of us of a certain age who at one time had such high hopes for a better world. Those of us who remember communes, love-in's, "tuning in, turning on, and dropping out". What happened to all that belief in peace, and our attempts to live it?  What the hippie generation saw so clearly back in the day was astonishingly real. Real also was the power of the old guard. The societal transformation that didn't happen back in the day has caused some to feel

Back in early May, the LA Times Opinion section asked readers to envision life in California after the pandemic and share their thoughts on what COVID-19 health and economic crisis reveals about us as a society, and what transformations may be necessary to the heal the trauma. More than 3700 readers responded, myself included. My response was included in the July 26, 2020, LA Times Sunday Edition: "Carolyn L. Baker was among a handful of readers who wrote before George Floyd

In a recent Huffpost article, “Amy Cooper Knew Exactly What She Was Doing,” Zeba Blay relates Carolyn Bryant’s 1955 false accusation of Emmett Till to Amy Cooper’s fraudulent 911 call falsely accusing Christopher Cooper. “There is, of course, a long history of white women in this country falsely accusing Black people, particularly Black men and boys, of crimes they did not commit. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till was beaten, tortured and killed because Carolyn Bryant claimed

As the ebook version of my book, An Unintentional Accomplice, goes into production this week, COVID-19 is raging around the world. In addition to creating cross-sector, worldwide human suffering, the spread of the coronavirus in America is also exposing the vulnerability of a social safety net supposedly designed to aid and protect all Americans from hunger, poverty, and economic hardship. While the coronavirus is no respecter of socio-economic status, and each and every one

As a white woman, I would be way out of my lane to comment on the power of the black vote. So today I’m sharing a Super Tuesday segment aired this week at KARE-TV Minneapolis. Anchor Adrienne Broaddus did an interview during Black History Month with well known civil rights pioneer Josie Johnson. Now 90 years of age, Johnson risked her life in the 50s and 60s fighting for voting fairness. At the end of the previous BHM interview, Johnson posed a series of questions regarding t

February is Black History Month and the theme for this year is “African Americans and the Vote.” I have a suggested reading for you for Black History Month 2020. It’s a new book that just came out, The Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor. I attended a book event last night at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA and heard Taylor discuss her journey in researching and writing the book, as well as her views on its overarc