Painted on the exterior of the Putnam Street parking garage in Fitchburg is a larger-than-life portrait of civil rights champion and community leader: Adrian Lamont Ford. Adrian moved to Fitchburg in 1966 (the year the Spanish American Center was born) and began a long career of advocacy and connecting his many networks (nonprofits, civic groups, and educators) to better the community.

Adrian was a tireless and talented advocate for equitable communities, writing a column for Fitchburg’s Sentinel & Enterprise, hosting an award-winning radio show “Freedom Means,” and working as a nonprofit consultant for Making Opportunity Count and other agencies. He was appointed by three Massachusetts governors to develop state policies on education and economic development.Adrian founded the Fitchburg chapter of Three Pyramids Community and Economic Development Corporation in 1971 and co-founded the North Central Massachusetts Minority Coalition in 1992, whose minority-led agencies included the Spanish American Center, Asian American Program, Three Pyramids Inc., and the Cleghorn Neighborhood Center, to address racial, gender and economic equity in the North Central Region. He also led the Massachusetts Association for Community Action, an anti-poverty coalition of agencies. Adrian and SAC’s Executive Director Neddy Latimer were leaders in the fight against discrimination and poverty, referring to each other as “my sister” and “my brother.” 

At the mural unveiling ceremony, daughter Maya Ford-Diaz related that her dad “always taught us to use our voice, to speak truth, and walk in our power.” Adrian’s legacy is visible in the landmarks of Fitchburg today, and not just in the mural: the Adrian L. Ford Center for Change is home to Three Pyramids as well as the Youth Innovation Center which promotes opportunity, creativity, and societal change led by and for youth. During the month of June and the holiday of Juneteenth, the Center remembers and honors Adrian’s life work of racial equity and community-building in our region.