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Weathermen
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(Redirected from Weather underground)

Weatherman, also known as the Weather Underground Organization, was a
US-based, self-described "revolutionary organization of communist men
and women" formed by members of the Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS), splintering that organization in the process. The group was
originally called the Revolutionary Youth Movement. The group advocated
the overthrow of the government of the United States and capitalism, and
toward that end, they carried out a campaign of bombings, jailbreaks,
and riots. It was active from 1969 to 1976.

The name of the group derives from the Bob Dylan song "Subterranean
Homesick Blues", which featured the lyrics, "You don't need a weatherman
to know which way the wind blows", quoted at the bottom of an
influential essay in the SDS newspaper, New Left Notes.

In October 1969, they organized their first event, called the "Days of
Rage" in Chicago. The opening salvo in the Days of Rage came on the
night of October 6, when they blew up a statue dedicated to police
casualties in the 1886 Haymarket Riot. They announced to an SDS
convention that they supported Charles Manson. Although the October 8
rally failed to draw as many participants as they had anticipated, the
estimated three hundred who did attend shocked police by leading a riot
through Chicago's business district, smashing windows and cars. Six
people were shot and seventy arrested. Two smaller violent conflicts
with police followed the next two nights.

In 1970, following the shooting and murder by police of Black Panther
Fred Hampton, the group issued a Declaration of War against the United
States government, changing its name to the "weather underground
organization", adopting fake identities, and pursuing covert activities
only. These initially included preparations for a bombing of a US
military noncommissioned officers' dance at Fort Dix. But when three
Underground members died in an accidental explosion while preparing the
bomb in a Greenwich Village, New York City safe house, other cells
re-evaluated their plans and decided to pursue only non-lethal projects.

The group released a number of manifestos and declarations, while
conducting a series of bombings. These attacked the U.S. Capitol, The
Pentagon, police and prison buildings, and the rebuilt Haymarket statue
again, among other targets. The group took (ultimately sucessfull)
measures to avoid any loss of life as a result of these bombings,
issuing warnings to evacuate the building ahead of time via phone. They
also took a $25,000 payment to break LSD advocate Timothy Leary out of
prison, transporting him to Algeria. They remained largely successful at
avoiding the police and the FBI.

In the mid-to-late 1970s, the group began dissolving, as many members
turned themselves in to the police, and others moved onto other armed
revolutionary groups. Very few served prison sentences, since the
evidence gathered against them, by the FBI's COINTELPRO program, was
inadmissable in court, due to the illegal methods used to obtain it.

Famous members of the Weather Underground include Kathy Boudin, Mark
Rudd, Terry Robbins, David Gilbert, and the still-married couple
Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers.

Many former Weathermen have re-integrated into society, without
necessarily repudiating their original intent. Bill Ayers, now a
Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of Illinois, said
in a September 11, 2001 New York Times profile "I don't regret setting
bombs [against non-human targets]. I believe we didn't do enough." [1]
(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00810FF3F5C0C728DDDA00894D9404482)

The organization was the subject of the Oscar-nominated 2003 documentary
The Weather Underground by filmmakers Bill Siegel and Sam Green.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Wilmot B. Valhmu" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Friday, December 3, 2004 3:51 pm
Subject: Re: Terrorist for a teacher?

> ** Please visit our website: http://www.africanassociation.org **
>
> Mathew,
>
> I'm quite sure that you've heard the old axiom: one man's terrorist
> is another man's freedom fighter.  One's views with regard to this
> depends to a large extent on which "shoe" he/she is wearing.  This
> is not to say that heinous and grotesque things aren't being done
> in the name of freedom fighting and vice versa, or that all acts
> perpetrated in the name of freedom are justifiable and acceptable.
> As such, who then makes the call as to what's acceptable?  The
> oppressed or the oppressor?  This is indeed a big dilemma.  What's
> clear, however, is that all forms of barbarism, whether perpetrated
> by freedom fighters or oppressive authoritarians need to be condemned.
>
> I'm reminded of the Palestinian struggle, to which Aggo alluded in
> his response to Vera.  Sometimes, I catch myself saying,
> "Palestinians are people too!", as though there is any doubt that
> they indeed are people.  In our zeal to fight evil, we need to be
> careful not to become evil itself.
>
> I'm not very familiar with the history of groups such as the
> Weather Underground.  If, however, they are guilty of the acts
> cited in the Op-Ed article posted by Vera, then they need to be
> renounced, just as we would criticize and oppose our government and
> civil authorities for acts of injustice.
>
> What would Jesus say?  I believe he would condemn all forms of
> injustice or lawlessness, whether perpetrated by people in
> authority or otherwise.
>
> - Wilmot
>
>

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