Jonathan P. Baird

I just wanted to announce that I have a forthcoming book, Defiance is beautiful, coming out soon in ebook form. Hard copy and audio book will be coming out later. Here is a little about the book:

Defiance is beautiful is a memoir about my three careers as an organizer, a legal aid lawyer and a judge. It is my story as a sixties’ activist who has tried to stay true to a vision of social change. The book
offers a hopeful perspective on overcoming adversities, personal failures and political disappointments. It critically evaluates career choices and the role of career in making social change. It also looks
at political lessons learned along the way. The book takes a hard look at failures of the left in the United States and offers a critique of why the left has been largely irrelevant as a political player. It
argues that the left needs to be less purist and far more welcoming as a movement.

Recognizing the fascist threat in America, the book argues for an aggressive, renewed democratic socialist politics that is both anti-racist and anti-sexist. The left needs a different approach that defends
multi-racial democracy, the rule of law and fights to improve the economic circumstances of all working people. Our history as a left dictates humility.

The book starts with early years growing up in the Philadelphia area. My sister, Lisa, was a mentor who played a key role in my left-wing political evolution. The anti-war movement, SDS and the
counter-culture changed me. The book traces my evolution through 9 years of labor and left organizing, a 25 year legal aid career and 16 years on the bench as a federal administrative law judge,

With a long view from the left, I advocate a Joe Hill-like “don’t mourn – organize” viewpoint. Fascism can be defeated in the United States and I have recommendations for how that will be done.