Marian Kramer (born 1944 in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

) is a

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

, poverty, and labor

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

based in Detroit, Michigan.

Family and childhood

Early life

Kramer has been involved with the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, Racial discrimination ...

since childhood, when she attended community meetings and rallies with family members. While studying at

Southern University Southern University and A&M College (Southern University, Southern, SUBR or SU) is a public historically black land-grant university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is the largest historically black college or university (HBCU) in Louisiana, a ...

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

, Kramer further immersed herself in the Civil Rights Movement. She is the recipient of numerous awards for community service. In 2004, Kramer was awarded an Alston/Bannerman Fellowship, a fellowship for esteemed, long-time community activists of color. She was interviewed for the Global Feminisms Project on March 5, 2004.

Marriage and children

In 1979 Marian Kramer married General Gordon Baker Jr (1941-2014†), a prominent labor organizer and activist. Together they have five children.

Activism

Marian Kramer has been a large part of the welfare and civil rights movements since the early 1960s. Kramer worked for the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission ...

(CORE) as an organizer for their voter registration campaign. She currently serves as the cochair of the National Welfare Rights Union, an organization she founded with her peers.

Organizational Affiliations

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, or simply the Lawyers' Committee, is a civil rights organization founded in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy. At the time, Alabama Governor George Wallace had vowed to resist cou ...

National Council of Negro Women The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1935 with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African-American women, their families, and communities. Mary McLeod Bethune, the f ...

African-American Women's Caucus

Women of Color Caucus
* National Anti-Hunger Coalition *

National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...

(CORE) * Wayne County Welfare Rights Organization *

United Auto Workers The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico ...

Organizations Co-Founded

National Welfare Rights Union
*

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

(in

Detroit, MI Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at the ...

) * Welfare Workers for Justice

Publications

Kramer, M. (1994)
Remarks on the National Welfare Rights Union
''Social Justice,'' ''21''(1 (55)), 9-11.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Marian African-American feminists American feminists 1944 births Living people People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana Activists from Louisiana Activists from Detroit Southern University alumni Activists for African-American civil rights 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people