The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather UndergroundBombing its way into the headlines of the early 1970s, the Weather Underground was one of the most dramatic symbols of the anger felt by young Americans opposed to the US presence in Vietnam. Mauled in street battles with the Chicago police during the Days of Rage demonstrations, Weather concluded that traditional political protest was insufficient to end the war. They turned instead to underground guerrilla combat. In this highly readable history, Ron Jacobs captures the hair-raising drama of a campaign which planted bombs in banks, military installations and, twice on successive days, in the US Capitol. He describes the group’s formation of clandestine revolutionary cells, its leaders’ disavowal of monogamous relationships, and their use of LSD to strengthen bonds between members. He recounts the operational failures of the group—three members died when a bomb they were building exploded in Greenwich Village—as well as its victories including a successful jailbreak of Timothy Leary. Never short-changing the fierce debates which underpinned the Weather’s strategy, Jacobs argues that the groups eventual demise resulted as much from the contradictions of its politics as from the increasingly repressive FBI attention. |
Contents
The Break and the Statement | 24 |
Days of Rage | 38 |
Going Underground | 66 |
Women the Counterculture and | 90 |
Changing Weather | 127 |
A Second Wind? The Prairie Fire Statement | 157 |
Weather and | 170 |
| 188 | |
A Weather Chronology | 195 |
The Cast | 203 |
| 210 | |
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Common terms and phrases
actions activists American Ann Arbor anti-imperialist armed struggle arrested attack attempt August Berkeley Bernardine Dohrn Bill Ayers black liberation Black Panther bm hair building California called Cathy Wilkerson charges Chicago City collective Columbia communiqué conspiracy counter-culture Days of Rage Debray December demonstrations Diana Oughton Donghi fight George Jackson Ibid imperialism indictments involved issues Jeff Jones Kathy Boudin Klonsky leadership Leary Left Notes Linda Evans Lydegraf March Mark Rudd Mayday ment militant military Mobilization to End Morning move murder Need a Weatherman Nixon November numbers Oakland October offices oppression PFOC pigs police political Prairie Fire prison protests racism radicals rally repression revolution Revolutionary Youth Movement role San Francisco Seattle September solidarity split statement strategy streets Ted Gold Terry Robbins tion United Vietnam Vietnamese violence Washington Weather bombs Weather members Weatherbureau Weatherman week women workers Yippies York youth culture
References to this book
Political Parties and Terrorist Groups Leonard Weinberg,Ami Pedahzur,Arie Perliger No preview available - 2009 |