About
Dr. Keith E. Baird was born in Barbados on January 20, 1923. Baird was raised and lived in Barbados until he came to United States in 1947 at the age of 24. Once he reached the U.S., Baird enrolled at Columbia University where he studied Spanish. Baird continued his education at Columbia with completed graduate coursework in Romance Philology and Linguistics. Baird finished his education at Union Graduate Institute in Cincinnati Ohio, earning a doctorate in sociolinguistics.
From 1964 – 1969, Baird served as an educator and administrator in the New York City. Baird served as the director of the Afro-American History and Culture Center, in District 29, New York City Board of Education. In this role, he developed educational curricula in Afro-American Studies for elementary and secondary teachers. During this time, Baird also co-founded the community education center in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Experimental School District. The Majority of Baird’s work centered on the view that language can and should be used as a political tool used against people of color and that language should also be a tool for liberation and self-development. Baird was one of the first advocates for the use of “Afro American” as opposed to Negro, Colored and other harmful descriptors used to label Black People and people of color. Baird reasoning for the use of Afro-American was that he believed that using a term that instilled cultural heritage instead of racial trauma would improve the self esteem of people of color within the Black Diaspora. Baird also held a number of professional positions at several academic institutions such as Hunter College of the City University of New York, Hofstra University, and Buffalo State where Baird served as Chair of the Afro-American Studies Department and was professor of emeritus of anthropology.
Baird later moved to Atlanta Georgia, where he was a visiting professor at Georgia Institute of Technology and Clark Atlanta University. During his time at Clark Atlanta, Baird served as a full-time professor in the Department of History and was interim chair of African and African American Studies. Baird retired in the late 90s. In addition to his background in Black Studies and education, Baird was also fluent and or conversant in 14 languages including Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swahili, Afro-French Creole, Portuguese, etc.
Baird died on July 13. 2017 in Atlanta Georgia. He was 94. Baird is survived by his wife Mary A. Twining, and daughters Marcia Baird Burris and Diana N’Diaye Baird.
