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(Compton, CA) Dominguez High School senior, Anysa Baker, was recently awarded the 2021 Elva S. Riggins Scholarship Fund (ESRSF) Award during a Facebook Live presentation on April 18, 2021. Baker has a grade point average of 3.6 and plans to attend Cal State San Marcos in the fall. She’s also an athlete who plays three sports: volleyball, basketball and track. Baker unfortunately is unable to play for the 2020-2021 school year due to an ACL injury, but her active life doesn’t stop at school—she is also a praise dancer at her church.
The 2021 Award Presentation was hosted by Margaret L. Mitchell, Chairperson of the ESRSF Board, and the eldest daughter of Riggins. Aidsand-Ace Riggins, Treasurer, presented the $1,000 scholarship award to Baker, saying, “Our board and community and the Riggins family is very proud of you,” before passing the baton to cousin—and Mitchell’s daughter—Arlyn Page, Secretary and Communications Director of the ESRSF Board.
Page began her interview with Baker by asking what kept her inspired while attending school. “What really kept me inspired was my dad because he (is) a therapist and I like seeing him help people,” Baker responded, “so I just feel like, ‘Well, maybe that’s something I would like to do.’ So I started taking college classes in the ninth grade and, yeah, getting ahead in school.” Baker went on to say that in the future, she sees herself giving back to her community by helping people who are struggling with their mental health. She feels that by becoming a therapist, she can help people better themselves.
Baker’s aspirations to help people help themselves seems to fall in line with a quote from actress Gabrielle Union that expressed the overall theme of her award-winning essay: “‘If you prioritize yourself, you’re going to save yourself.” Baker explained her philosophy, sharing that her mom taught her that one cannot provide for somebody else if they cannot provide for themselves first.
Page agreed, praising Baker’s dedication to herself and her well-being and by sharing a quote of her own from writer and activist Audre Lorde, “‘Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation. And that is an act of political warfare.’ And I believe that you are doing that and are a divine example of that. Thank you so much,” she said to Baker.
As the presentation came to a close, Mitchell shared a final thought, “There is no scarcity of resources in our community. We just need to direct the resources that we have to where they are needed most. All around us there are the most perfect, beautiful acorns—as perfect and beautiful as Anysa herself. It is up to us to water them so that they will grow into the next generation of mighty oaks, under whose magnificent branches we will find shelter and shade.”
Elva S. Riggins was one of a handful of pioneer Black teachers who first integrated Compton Unified School District in the mid-1950s. She was an outstanding secondary school teacher whose subjects included English Grammar and Literature. Over the course of her 35 years with the District, she taught thousands of students. According to her daughter, Mitchell, “She had a very special ability to identify her students’ unique qualities and gifts. She taught, mentored, and encouraged them to strive to attain their highest potential and dreams.” Riggins would have been celebrating her 100th birthday this year.
After retiring from CUSD in 1989, Riggins continued to volunteer in the District. When she passed away in 2005, her heirs decided that the best way to honor her values and legacy was to establish a scholarship in her name. ESRSF supports students of color from middle school through college who pursue training and educational opportunities that enhance their skill set or scholastic horizons, preparing them to use their talents in service to their communities. To receive the award, the successful applicant must submit an essay in an essay contest.
To learn more about ESRSF or to partner with them, visit https://esrscholarshipfund.org, or follow the Fund on Facebook at @elvasrigginsscholarship.
