Frazier Baker was Lake City’s first Black postmaster — he’d had the position 6 months and already received death threats and been shot at!
But this tragic story isn’t just about Baker — it’s about his family, specifically baby Julia.
One night a malicious white mob snuck onto Baker’s property. They torched Baker’s home, firing hundreds of bullets into the windows — while the Bakers were inside!
Baker was killed shielding his family. Lavinia Baker told her children to run — but then baby Julia started crying.
Mrs. Baker grabbed baby Julia — then she screamed. Baby Julia was dead, a bullet in her tiny chest.
Mrs. Baker laid Julia next to her father’s body. Then she ran from the burning house and never looked back.
Often we’re taught lynching victims were Black men accused of being alleged rapists. In actuality, white supremacy only used this narrative to “justify” lynchings 25% of the time.
Many lynching victims were prominent community figures, like Baker, who refused to back down. Family members, like baby Julia, were often collateral.
What would have happened had Julia Baker lived? White supremacy didn’t just lynch thousands of Black people — it eliminated millions of Black futures.
Whenever white supremacy kills one of us, it’s an attack on our collective futures and liberation — which is why we MUST keep fighting back.