DR. David Baker, The "Giant-Slayer" of Environmental Justice

​A Comprehensive Biography and Historical Record . . .
By Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson aka "Wilkie Clark's Daughter"
Picture
Dr. David Barney Baker Sr, Environmental Justice Leader of Anniston AL.jpg
PictureFormer home of CAP, Community Against Pollution, founded by Dr. David B. Baker
Introduction: The Modest Bungalow with a Global Impact
If you happened to walk onto the front porch of 1521 Cobb Avenue in West Anniston, Alabama, you would assume you were entering a typical neighborhood home. Step inside, however, and you were immediately thrust into a humming, technologically advanced headquarters of modern revolution.

This was the home of Community Against Pollution (CAP), the grassroots powerhouse founded by David Barney Baker, Sr. in 1998.  
​
David Baker was a modern-day "Giant-Slayer". Armed with radical transparency, relentless energy, and an unshakeable duty to his neighbors, he orchestrated one of the most successful environmental justice battles in American history against corporate polluters. From the docks of the U.S. Navy to the boardrooms of Washington D.C., his life stood as an unbroken chain of service to labor, civil rights, and human safety.
⚓ Early Life, Military Service, and the Crucible of Labor Organizing
David Baker was deeply rooted in the soil of East Alabama. He was the grandson of the late Reverend Elcainer R. and Lucille Dunson of Roanoke, and Morgan and Bethenia Baker—all proud Randolph County natives. Born to Grover Baker, Sr. and Imogene Dunson Baker, David spent his formative years attending Walter Welborn High School before graduating from the Calhoun County Training School in 1969.
Immediately following graduation, Baker answered the call to serve his country by enlisting in the United States Navy, eventually earning an Honorable Discharge. Seeking broader opportunities, he relocated to New York City, taking a position at Coney Island Hospital.
It was in New York that Baker discovered his profound gift for mobilization. He advanced from a frontline hospital employee to a powerhouse Representative and Organizer for Local 420 (AFSCME). For nearly three decades, Baker lived on the frontlines of municipal labor battles. Serving as the Administrative Assistant to the Local 420 President, the late James Butler, his daily reality consisted of:
  • Organizing hospital workers and social workers across New York City.
  • Aggressively processing labor grievances and supervising complex urban office operations.
  • Walking lockstep in mass civil rights demonstrations alongside national figures like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Bill Lucy, and individual labor icon William "Bill" Lucy.
To refine his tactical understanding of institutional power, Baker formalized his experiences by studying Labor Management at Cornell University.

🧬 Kinship and Parallel Legacies: A Shared Torch of Resistance

The radical activism of David Barney Baker, Sr. was neither an accident of history nor an isolated crusade—it was a direct manifestation of a powerful family lineage. David and the legendary East Alabama civil rights leader, Wilkie Clark, were bound by close blood kinship, sharing a great-grandmother, while David's grandfather was the brother of Wilkie Clark's mother. This shared ancestry infused both men with an identical, uncompromising sense of duty to their communities...

When you look across the landscape of Black history in East Alabama, the historical parallels between Wilkie Clark and David Baker run remarkably deep:

  • Voices for the Unheard: Where Wilkie Clark stood as a fearless pillar against Jim Crow segregation, voter suppression, and economic exclusion in Randolph County, David Baker took up the mantle in Calhoun County, standing as an unyielding shield against environmental racism and toxic industrial exploitation..
  • The Courage to Face Corporate and Political Giants: Both men possessed a rare, dangerous bravery. They routinely stared down massive institutional forces—whether hostile political structures or multi-billion-dollar corporate polluters—unfazed by personal risk or explicit death threats.
  • A Strategy of Radical Transparency: Just as Wilkie Clark championed community education and grassroots organizing as tools for true liberation, David Baker built the foundations of Community Against Pollution (CAP) on the exact same premise: that an informed community is an unstoppable force.

To honor David Barney Baker, Sr. on the Clark Historic Landmark Site is to celebrate the continuity of a singular family torch. They were, in every sense of the word, generational "Giant-Slayers"—two warriors from the same roots who spent their lives ensuring that the voices of Black Alabamians could never be silenced, buried, or ignored...

The Heartbreak Behind the Fight
For David Baker, this was not an abstract environmental study—it was deeply personal. Growing up, David and his brother Terry used to play in the neighborhood drainage ditches carrying toxic run-off directly from the Monsanto plant. David recalled suffering from unexplained boils on his head and severe chloracne under his feet. Tragically, his brother Terry passed away at just 17 years old, riddled with a striking array of illnesses including a brain tumor, lung cancer, and premature hardening of the arteries.
"I always promised my mama that one day, I would find out what happened to Terry."
​— David Baker
Picture
✊ The Birth of CAP and the Limousine Arrival of Johnnie Cochran
Knowing that poor Black families in low-standard housing were bearing the brunt of the pollution, Baker founded Community Against Pollution (CAP) in 1998. He was determined that low-income and minority residents would not be shut out of the mounting corporate litigation.

In August 2001, Baker successfully deployed his national civil rights connections. He contacted legendary civil rights attorney Johnnie Cochran in California. Cochran flew into Birmingham Airport, where David met him at the tarmac in a gleaming funeral home limousine.

​When the limousine pulled into Anniston, a crowd of over 5,000 energized citizens was waiting. This historic mobilization laid the groundwork for the landmark federal lawsuit Tolbert et al. v. Monsanto et al., filed in Judge U.W. Clemon’s court. The legal battle forced Monsanto (and its corporate offshoots Solutia and Pharmacia) to pay a monumental $700 million settlement to compensate tens of thousands of poisoned residents, clean up toxic sites, and fund long-term community health research.
🌍 A National Voice for the Voiceless
David Baker’s leadership instantly rippled past the borders of Alabama. Despite receiving intense pushback and personal death threats from factions who envied his success, Baker refused to stop.
  • Congressional Testimony: In 2002, Baker walked into the halls of Congress to testify before the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, forcing federal officials to look directly at the human faces of PCB contamination.
  • The Environmental Working Group (EWG): Partnering with EWG CEO Ken Cook, Baker joined the national board of directors, serving as its second longest-living member.
  • Federal Crisis Intervention: He spearheaded the CAP Special Need Individuals Identification Project alongside FEMA, ensuring that disabled and vulnerable citizens would be protected in the event of an accident during the destruction of chemical weapons at the nearby Anniston Army Depot.
  • Health Research: His persistent advocacy gave rise to the comprehensive Anniston/Calhoun PCB Health Study, turning Jacksonville State University (JSU) and a consortium of 33 universities into a collective research shield to protect public health.
🏆 Honors, Awards, and Institutional Distinctions
Over his multi-decade crusade, Dr. Baker was highly decorated by legislative bodies and international organizations:
  1. Honorary Doctorate in Environmental Justice – Conferred by the Alabama State Legislature in recognition of his historic civil rights achievements.
  2. EPA’s 1st OSWER Award (2003) – Awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency for running the nation's best Community Organization.
  3. EPA’s 1st Assistant Administrator Environmental Justice Incentive Award – Honoring outstanding leadership in meeting national environmental justice goals.
  4. The First Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) Award – Honoring his lifelong work bridging labor rights with human health protections.
  5. Volvo for Life Award (Top 5 Nominee) – Celebrating heroes making their communities safer, cleaner, and better.
 The Continuous Struggle: A Shared Family Torch
David Baker’s passing on July 13, 2026, marked the physical end of an era, but his blueprint for resistance remains entirely intact. His lifelong work highlights the crucial "second generation" of civil rights—the quiet, deadly battles for health, economic freedom, and environmental equity that persist long after the historical television cameras leave.
His legacy is beautifully intertwined with that of his blood cousin, the late Wilkie Clark, and the ongoing curatorship of the Clark Historic Landmark Site and the Southern Justice Archive. Together, these families proved that historical preservation is not passive memory; it is active instruction for future freedom fighters. Dr. David Barney Baker, Sr. lived, bled, and fought inside the text of history, remaining forever an unyielding standard of Black resilience in East Alabama.
​
Bibliography:
​Documentation: 
https://www.ewg.org/who-we-are/our-board/david-baker
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/David_Baker_(activist)
https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10229350622209933&id=1229877600
Burgess, L. D., Johnson, G. S., & Washington, S. C. (2014). An African American community and the PCB contamination in Anniston, Alabama: An environmental justice case study. Race, Gender & Class, 21(1-2), 1–27.
https://www.southernjusticearchive.com/p/still-standing-in-the-struggle​
My City Was Gone
Baptized In PCBs
Monsanto Poisoned This Alabama Town — And People Are Still Sick
tpv11.04.05-1.pdf
File Size: 9477 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
An African American community and the PCB contamination in Anniston, Alabama: An environmental justice case study
File Size: 684 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
2026-8-1_david_barney_baker_service_folder.pdf
File Size: 4941 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
July 15, 2026 [The Anniston Star E-Edition] David Baker's Fight Gave West Anniston A Voice
File Size: 7926 kb
File Type: png
Download File
Environmental Working Group (EWG) mourns the passing of David Baker, longtime board member and environmental justice leader
File Size: 312 kb
File Type: png
Download File
NEWSPAPER ARTIFACTS FURTHER DOCUMENTING THE DAVID BAKER STORY
The following articles represent a small selection of the widespread national coverage and scores of articles and research reports, surrounding David Baker ​and his impact on the PCB contamination issue in Anniston, Alabama
DAVID BAKER PHOTO GALLERY