# General Baker > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/General_Baker > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/General_Baker.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Baker > Source revision: 1342157884 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) For other uses, see [General Baker (disambiguation)](/source/General_Baker_(disambiguation)). General Gordon Baker Jr. Born (1941-09-06)September 6, 1941 Detroit Died May 18, 2014(2014-05-18) (aged 72) Detroit Occupation Autoworker Known for Revolutionary Union Movement Spouse Marian Kramer **General Gordon Baker Jr.** (September 6, 1941[1] – May 18, 2014[2]) was an [American](/source/Americans) labor organizer and activist. ## Biography General Baker was born in [Detroit, Michigan](/source/Detroit), where his parents had relocated from [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(US_state)) so that his father could find work in the automotive industry. Baker graduated from [Southwestern High School](/source/Southwestern_High_School_(Michigan)) in 1958.[3] As a student at [Wayne State University](/source/Wayne_State_University), Baker studied the work of [Karl Marx](/source/Karl_Marx) and became involved in [socialism](/source/Socialism) and [Black nationalism](/source/Black_nationalism).[3] In 1963 he co-founded UHURU (Swahili for "freedom"), an African-American student organization at Wayne.[2] Baker visited [Cuba](/source/Cuba) in 1964 to study the [Castro](/source/Fidel_Castro) government. After returning to Detroit, he found work at the Dodge Main plant in [Hamtramck, Michigan](/source/Hamtramck%2C_Michigan).[3] In 1965, Baker wrote an open letter to the [draft board](/source/Draft_board), refusing its request that he appear for an examination to determine his fitness to serve in the [Vietnam War](/source/Vietnam_War), a landmark in American draft resistance during that era.[2][4][5] In the late 1960s, Baker was a co-founder of the [Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement](/source/Dodge_Revolutionary_Union_Movement) (DRUM) and the [League of Revolutionary Black Workers](/source/League_of_Revolutionary_Black_Workers) (LRBW).[2] He was fired from his job after participating in a series of [wildcat strikes](/source/Wildcat_strike_action), and was subsequently unable to find work in the industry until he applied under a false name at the [Ford Rouge Plant](/source/Ford_Rouge_Plant) in [Dearborn, Michigan](/source/Dearborn%2C_Michigan).[6] Baker twice ran for public office, as a candidate for the [Michigan House of Representatives](/source/Michigan_House_of_Representatives) in the late 1970s.[7] A leading member of the League of Revolutionaries for a New America (LRNA) for two decades beginning in the 1990s, Baker was chair of its steering committee.[2][5] Baker died in Detroit of [congestive heart failure](/source/Congestive_heart_failure), aged 72.[7] ## See also - [Organized labour portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Organized_labour) “General Baker was the organizer of the League of Revolutionary Black Workers in Detroit, the black auto workers movement. His father’s name was ‘General’and he was named after him. General Baker was the smartest guy in the Sixties. He understood everything, he had an analysis of capital and race way beyond everything from the point of view of black workers in mass production industries.... I still go back to try to think about things through him.” (Dale W. Tomich, 2024)[8] ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-jacobinmag_1-0)** Goldberg, David. ["Detroit's Radical"](https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/05/detroit-s-radical-general-baker/). *Jacobin*. Retrieved 7 July 2014. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-pambazuka_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-pambazuka_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-pambazuka_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-pambazuka_2-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-pambazuka_2-4) Azikiwe, Abayomi. ["General Gordon Baker, Jr.: Pioneer in African American working class resistance"](http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/92173). *Pambazuka News*. Retrieved 7 July 2014. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-daahp_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-daahp_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-daahp_3-2) ["General Baker Biography"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160303234309/http://www.daahp.wayne.edu/biographiesDisplay.php?id=78.Operation). *Detroit African-American History Project*. Archived from [the original](http://www.daahp.wayne.edu/biographiesDisplay.php?id=78.Operation) on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 7, 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-gendraft_4-0)** Baker, General. ["Letter to the Draft Board"](http://speakersforanewamerica.com/gendraft.html). *Speakers for a New America*. Retrieved 7 July 2014. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-sfana_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-sfana_5-1) ["General Gordon Baker"](http://speakersforanewamerica.com/generalbakerstatement.php). *Speakers for a New America*. Retrieved July 7, 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-detroitnews_6-0)** Donnelly, Francis X. ["Advocate for auto workers never backed away from fight for rights"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140714182307/http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140523/OBITUARIES/305230128). *The Detroit News*. Archived from [the original](http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140523/OBITUARIES/305230128) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-freep_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-freep_7-1) Schaefer, Jim. ["General Baker Jr.: Activist, union leader 'loved the workers of the world'"](http://www.freep.com/article/20140522/NEWS08/305220253/General-Gordon-Baker-obituary). *Detroit Free Press*. Retrieved July 7, 2014. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** [https://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/jwsr/article/view/1359/1692](https://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/jwsr/article/view/1359/1692) ## External links - Dr. Louis Jones, ["General Gordon Baker, Jr.: A Detroit Revolutionary to the Core"](https://reuther.wayne.edu/node/12263) - Todd Wolfson, ["Remembering General Baker"](http://www.mediamobilizing.org/updates/remembering-general-baker) ([Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20150101213903/http://www.mediamobilizing.org/updates/remembering-general-baker)), Media Mobilizing Project, December 18, 2014. Wikiquote has quotations related to ***[General Baker](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Special:Search/General_Baker)***. This biographical article about a workers' rights activist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information. - [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Worker-activist-stub) - [t](/source/Template_talk%3AWorker-activist-stub) - [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Worker-activist-stub) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [General Baker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Baker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Baker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.