Bobbi Jean Baker | |
---|---|
Born | March 20, 1964 |
Died | (aged 49) |
Occupation(s) | Activist, minister |
Bobbi Jean Baker (March 20, 1964 – January 1, 2014) was an American transgender activist and minister. [1]
She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to San Francisco from Tennessee in 1992. [2] [3] Baker struggled with drug use and legal challenges in San Francisco, stating in an interview: "I was doing sex work, smoking crack and on speed, and was a fugitive from justice … I was extradited back to Tennessee to serve a four-year prison sentence." [4]
During a multi-day bus ride back to San Francisco following completion of her prison sentence, Baker decided to focus her life on advocacy. In 2001, a supervisor at the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center gave her a paid position to lead transgender groups. [4] She served as a case manager, domestic violence specialist, housing manager, and peer advocate. [3] Additionally, she was a lay minister at Transcending Transgender Ministries and an ordained minister at City Refuge United Church of Christ, and the West Coast Regional TransSaints Minister of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. [5] [1] She served as an adjutant to Bishop Yvette Flunder, who said the following of Baker: "she believed her ministry was to help transgender people reconcile their spirituality but also to help provide practical assistance, such as food housing, and self-care." [4] For over ten years she was part of the transgender group Transcendence Gospel Choir. [1] [6]
She died at age 49 on January 1, 2014, on New Year's Day after a car crash. [5] [1] After leading a New Year's Eve service at the City of Refuge Oakland, Baker went to deacon Bobby Wiseman's home for a meal. As Wiseman was driving Baker home later that night, their car was hit by another vehicle and Baker was killed. [4]
Footage of an interview with Baker was included in the documentary film Major!, about the life of transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. [7] Baker was later portrayed by Jazzmun in the 2017 miniseries When We Rise. [3]
Bobbi Jean Baker | |
---|---|
Born | March 20, 1964 |
Died | (aged 49) |
Occupation(s) | Activist, minister |
Bobbi Jean Baker (March 20, 1964 – January 1, 2014) was an American transgender activist and minister. [1]
She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and moved to San Francisco from Tennessee in 1992. [2] [3] Baker struggled with drug use and legal challenges in San Francisco, stating in an interview: "I was doing sex work, smoking crack and on speed, and was a fugitive from justice … I was extradited back to Tennessee to serve a four-year prison sentence." [4]
During a multi-day bus ride back to San Francisco following completion of her prison sentence, Baker decided to focus her life on advocacy. In 2001, a supervisor at the Tenderloin AIDS Resource Center gave her a paid position to lead transgender groups. [4] She served as a case manager, domestic violence specialist, housing manager, and peer advocate. [3] Additionally, she was a lay minister at Transcending Transgender Ministries and an ordained minister at City Refuge United Church of Christ, and the West Coast Regional TransSaints Minister of the Fellowship of Affirming Ministries. [5] [1] She served as an adjutant to Bishop Yvette Flunder, who said the following of Baker: "she believed her ministry was to help transgender people reconcile their spirituality but also to help provide practical assistance, such as food housing, and self-care." [4] For over ten years she was part of the transgender group Transcendence Gospel Choir. [1] [6]
She died at age 49 on January 1, 2014, on New Year's Day after a car crash. [5] [1] After leading a New Year's Eve service at the City of Refuge Oakland, Baker went to deacon Bobby Wiseman's home for a meal. As Wiseman was driving Baker home later that night, their car was hit by another vehicle and Baker was killed. [4]
Footage of an interview with Baker was included in the documentary film Major!, about the life of transgender activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. [7] Baker was later portrayed by Jazzmun in the 2017 miniseries When We Rise. [3]