GENERAL GORDON BAKER

"It was fascinating to learn your perspective of the 1960s. It was so different -- refreshing and enlightening. Our class read aloud your letter to the draft board. It was a particularly appropriate ending to our "Honors Seminar in American Culture in the 1960s." You got a standing ovation."
-- A Tampa, Florida student

"General Baker was the only person in the United Auto Workers Union to help me when I was fired in a direct action walk out." -- A Minnesota autoworker

The book, "Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, A Study in Urban Revolution," calls General Baker the "soul of the Dodge Revolutionary Movement."

Some of General Baker's writings and speeches
General Baker speaks on current auto crisis
General Baker video on Youtube (Justice Rally against Whirlpool)
Vietnam Draft : Lessons for Today
DRUM article, 30th Anniversary, 1998
Labor Day Speech, 2005

Historical writings of General Baker
Letter to the Draft Board, Detroit, 1965
Open Letter to Chrysler Corporation, May, 1968
General Baker at a press conference during the 1960s (photo)

To purchase artist cards of General Baker, click here

General Gordon Baker is a national and internationally known labor leader who has been called the most important 21st century American revolutionary. He was a leader of the Detroit wildcat strikes in the 1960s, a founder of the legendary League of Revolutionary Black Workers, the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM), and the first American to refuse induction to fight in Vietnam. His case was a landmark in draft resistance, symbolizing the beginning of the anti-war movement.

The book, "Detroit: I Do Mind Dying" (about the worker revolts of that era) calls General Baker the "soul of the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement (DRUM)." (DRUM was the driving force behind the wildcat strikes.) The ideas emanating from that period inspired Black auto workers throughout America.

General Baker's life-long commitment to the working class makes him one of the country's most knowlegeable spokespersons for a new society where workers will finally receive the fruits of their labor. An autoworker for 30 years, he remains a champion of the unemployed and unorganized workers. Today he discusses the necessity of building a national movement to take over the giant corporations before they take over the people.

General Baker and his family were featured in "The American Dream," a documentary about labor history. Other accomplishments include running in a Michigan state-wide campaign for political office; a statewide campaign to support Detroit's homeless tent city, and being part of the North American delegation to the 7th Pan-African Congress in Uganda and he has addressed many other national and international gatherings. University appearances include: Convenor of the 1993 conference in Detroit commemorating MalcolmX and celebrating the 25th anniversary of the founding of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers; featured speaker at MIT (1994) University of Illinois (Chicago) (1995). He has also been featured at: Cleveland State University; University of Massachusetts; State University of New York at Binghamton; and the Carnegie Mellon Institute; Howard University Conference on the Columbus Quincentennial. He is a chair of the Steering Committee of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America.

Suggested Speaking Topics

• The Peace Movement: then and now
• Independent Politics: Which Way For Labor?
• Moving Onward: From Racial Division to Class Unity
• Will the Corporations or the People Rule America?
• When Robots Replace Workers : Vision of a New Cooperative Society

For more information about bringing General Baker to your city, contact Speakers for a New America at 800-691-6888 or e-mail info@speakersforanewamerica.com