Wording Ideas For Memorial Plaques

A Brief History of the Black Panther Party and its place in the Movement Black Liberation - By Sundiata Acoli

The Black Panther Party for Self-Defense was founded in October 1966 in Oakland, California by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The name was shortened to the Black Panther Party (BPP) and began to spread eastward through colonies of black urban ghettos from one extreme to another country.

In the summer of 1968, David Brothers established a BPP branch in Brooklyn, New York, and a few months later Lumumba Shakur founded a branch in Harlem, New York. I joined the Harlem BPP in the fall of 1968 and served as finance officer to be arrested on April 2, 1969 in the case of the Panther 21 conspiracy, which was the starting signal for the attack on national government against the BPP. Moving westward, Police Departments in each city conducted military raids on BPP offices and houses in Philadelphia, Chicago, Newark, Omaha, Denver, New Haven, San Diego, Los Angeles and other cities, murdering some Panthers and arresting others.

After I and others of the 21 Panthers we were imprisoned for two years awaiting trial, were acquitted of all charges and released. Most of us went back to the community and the BPP but by then COINTELPRO had taken its toll. In the BPP spread dissension, both internal and external. Internal conflicts, divisions, intrigue, and paranoia had become so ingrained that eventually most members drifted apart or were expelled. Some continued to fight on other fronts and other fundamentally completely quieted. The BPP continued limping several more years, then died of what appeared to be a natural death.

History will be the final judge of the place of the BPP in the Black Liberation Movement (BLM). But in these troubled times, Africans in America needs to investigate both the positive and negative aspects of the history of the BPP in order to learn from those lessons that have been paid in blood. In particular, we need to learn the reasons for the BPP's rapid rise to prominence, the reason for his ability to move as many Africans and people of other nationalities, and the reason for his disappearance during his brief stay with the American scene. It is not possible in this brief article, in this small daily, provide much of what is needed and which will simply outline some of the highlights of the positive and negative contributions of the BPP to the Black Liberation Movement.

positive aspects of the contributions of the Black Panther Party

1. Defense: This is one of the key areas with which the BPP contributed to the Black Liberation Movement. It is also one of the key issues that distinguishes the BPP of most black organizations that preceded it and which attracted members (particularly youth), mass support and a multitude of followers. The concept is not only sound but also meaning common. But it must be implemented correctly, otherwise it may cause more harm than good. The BPP self-defense policies need to be analyzed in this light by African organizations today. All history shows that this government will bring its police and military power to put pressure on any group which truly seeks to free the Africans. Any black organization "freedom" that ignores self-defense does so at their own risk.

2. Revolutionary Nationalist Ideology: The BPP was a nationalist organization. Its main objective was the national liberation of Africans in the United States, and restricted their membership only blacks. It was also revolutionary. The BPP theories and practices were based on socialist principles. It was anti-capitalist and struggled for a revolution in American society. Nationally, widely disseminate the basic socialist programs for the African masses. Internationally, Africa provided the United States a broad understanding of our relationship with Africa, the independent African nations in distress, Third World nations, socialist nations, and all national liberation movements associated with these nations . The idea was to give a more concrete view of ideology that provided the Africans here and the analysis of the world. Until then, most black analysis of world and society in which we live, was based on ourselves acceptable to White society, proving to Whites that we were human, proving to Whites that we were ready for equality , proving that we were equal to Whites, disproving racist ideas held by Whites, struggling for integration or for equal status with whites, theories of "love your enemy", "hating the enemy," spectrum, and other blurred images of how the real world.

3. Mass organization techniques: Another key issue BPP attracted to both members and popular support was his policy of "serving the people." It was a policy closer to the masses, live with them, sharing their problems and organize to implement their own solutions to everyday problems that concerned them significantly. Organizing and implementing the wishes of the masses, the BPP organized community programs ranging from free breakfasts for children, free health clinics, to rent strikes looking hiciesen tenants to own their buildings, Liberation Schools graduate school , free clothing campaigns, campaigns for community control of schools, community control police, and campaigns to stop drugs, crime and murder and police brutality in a number of black colonies in the Americas. For these reasons and others, the influence of the BPP made its membership, at that time, be extended considerably. Not only are educated about self-sufficiency through programs of the BPP, but years later the government established similar programs such as free breakfasts in schools, expand health care coverage for over 65 years and provide daily care and liberalize the legal procedures for eviction of tenants of houses for poor, in part, but mainly to extinguish the memory of the earlier programs of the BPP and the principle of self-sufficiency.

4. The practice of equality for women: Another positive contribution of the BPP was its defense and practice of equality for women at all levels of the organization and in society itself. This occurred at a time when most Black Nationalist organizations were demanding that a woman's place was at home and / or a step behind the black man, and a time when the entire country maintained a high debate on the issue of women's liberation.

5. Techniques of propaganda: The BPP made significant contributions to the art of propaganda. He was skilled enough to expand their message and ideas through its newspaper The Black Panther, mass rallies, tours, lectures, slogans, posters, pamphlets, drawings, badges, symbols (for example, a clenched fist), graffiti, political trials and even funerals. The BPP also spread its ideas through very skillful use of television of the ruling class, the radio, and print media. One singular indication, although there are others, of the effectiveness of BPP propaganda techniques is that even today, more than a decade later, many of the programs broadcast on television are "police stories" and many of the roles available to black actors are limited to police roles. Much of this has to do with the overall process to continue trying to rehabilitate the image of the police after his devastating exposure during the era of the BPP, and to prevent the true role of the police in this society to be rediscovered.

negative aspects of the contributions of the Black Panther Party

1. Corrupt leaders: COINTELPRO eventually intimidated and corrupted all three top leaders of the BPP, Huey P. Newton, Bobby Seale and Eldridge Cleaver. Each in its own way gave in to pressure and began to act in a manner was deliberately designed to destroy the BPP, and disappointed not only party members but also to Africans in America for years. COINTELPRO's hopes were that the Africans in America were so disillusioned that never again trust or follow any leader or organization to defend African real solutions to black oppression.

2. Combining legal and illegal: This was one of the most serious structural errors BPP. Party members who functioned openly in the BPP offices, or organized openly in the community during the day, could surely be the same people who carried out operations armed during the night. This provided the police with a convenient excuse to make raids on any or all BPP offices, or in the homes of its members, under the pretext that they were looking for suspects, fugitives, weapons, and / or explosives. BPP also dragged the unwinnable position to take to make a stationary defense offices. It must have been a clear separation between the party in the legal and illegal armed unit. In addition, small military forces should never adopt, as a general tactic, the position of making stationary defenses of offices, houses, buildings, etc.

3. Excessive rhetorical skills: Although the BPP was skilled in the art of propaganda and made very good use of both their media as the ruling class, too many Panthers were falling into the habit of making boisterous claims in the public media, or "Bluffing" without considering the consequences . Finally, never to be taken seriously. The press, some of whom were policemen, often only had to stick a microphone under the nose of a Pantera for he or she would begin to drop their rhetoric. This often, fell into the hands of those who were only looking for slanderous material to issue or possible intelligence information to the police.

4. Lumpen tendencies: It can be said sure that the largest segment of members of the BPP in New York (and probably nationwide) were workers employed in everyday life. Other segments of the membership were semi-proletariat, students, youth and lumpen-proletariat. The lumpen tendencies of some members was the media that the ruling class (and some party members) mainly emitted. The lumpen tendencies are associated with lack of discipline, extensive use of alcohol, marijuana, and curses of questionable sexual morality, criminal-minded and reckless actions. These tendencies in some Party members gave the best media opportunities slander of which would have had otherwise, which diverted public attention from most of the positive work done by the BPP.

5. Dogmatism: The early success caused some Panthers would feel as if they were the sole possessors of absolute truth. Some became arrogant and dogmatic in their dealings with other Party members, other organizations and even the community. This upset people.

6. Failure in the Organization of Economic Foundations in the Community: The BPP preached socialist politics. Anticapitalist and this distorts the concept of building economic foundations in the community. They used to give the impression that engage in any business enterprise was introduced in capitalism and often looked down upon people who had small businesses in the community. Accordingly, the BPP built a few businesses that generated other income of the Black Panther newspaper, or they could provide self-employment for its members and the people of the community. The BPP was wrong to not encourage the black community to build their own business by building an independent economic foundation which could break the control of "intruders" in the economy of the black community, and move it made economic self-sufficiency.

7. Mentality: The Sixties were a time of great change. An important sector of the U.S. population turned to the mass struggle. Black Liberation, Native American, Puerto Rican, Asian, Chicano, anti-war, white revolutionaries, and the liberation of women, were movements that were taking place more or less simultaneously during this time. It seemed that these considerable changes caused some Panthers to think that a government takeover was imminent or that a revolutionary struggle was the rapid pace of a television program. That is, is put into operation at 9 pm, reaches its climax at 9:45 pm and 9:55 pm near the victory! All in time for the news of the 10. When nothing happened that after a few years, namely that Africans were still not free in the U.S., there was no revolution, and even worse, the BPP was everywhere on the defensive, bearing losses and riddled with dissension, many members were demoralized, disillusioned, and away or returning to their old ways of life. They were not prepared psychologically for a long struggle. In retrospect, it seems that the BPP did not do enough to root out this TV mentality that had some of its members, but did it with others, which is an aspect to consider.

Although the BPP made serious errors, also received a considerable amount of success and made several important contributions to the Black Liberation Movement. The final trial of history can show clearly that the way the BPP added to the Black Agenda final ingredient needed to achieve true freedom: armed struggle and that was the turning point that ultimately would put the Black Liberation Movement in the final path to victory.

Sundiata Acoli Sundiata Acoli

was born on January 14, 1937 in Decatur (Texas). Study mathematics in Vernon (Texas) and work for 15 years in information technology-oriented companies. In 1964 he participated in voter registration in Mississippi. In 1968 he joined the Black Panther Party in Harlem and served as finance officer until he was arrested for "conspiracy against the Panther 21" by what happened two years in prison until his release. After the end of the BPP was part of the Black Liberation Army (Black Liberation Army, BLA). In 1973 police officers ambushed the car he was with other members of the BLA. A companion, Zayd Shakur, was killed and another companion, Assata Shakur, was injured and arrested. A police officer was wounded and another was killed. Sundiata Acoli was sentenced to life imprisonment and, currently, is still imprisoned in a maximum security prison in the United States.

* last revision: 19/09/09
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Silverado Ss 427 Forsale

SDS / WUO (Students for a Democratic Society and the Weather Underground Organization) - By David Gilbert

Introduction We study the past to draw lessons to help us liberate the future. The young activists of today are to be commended for showing more interest in learning from earlier movements that my generation of the 60's. Even so, I want to alert you of two typical errors that occur in such studies.

1 - When looking closely at victorious revolutions in other countries, mechanically apply lessons from advanced levels of our own embryonic state.

2 - In reviewing the past struggles of the United States, we see the errors, especially as the result of misconceptions in the minds of the leaders of the time. Implicitly, so we welcome it because outstanding people who, naturally, would have had more early and would have been smarter. This approach to underestimate the material forces-like the deep white supremacy or the repressive powers of the state - which would cause the same mistakes.

This brief tale of two parties is not exhaustive or final. It is written by a participant from the same and a guerrilla, with the aim of contributing to the struggles of today.

Students for a Democratic Society

During the 1960 United States were being rough with long and tumultuous protests. SDS was an organization in the heart of the radical movement among which were predominantly white college students. Dragged a special vitality of its close relationship with the Coordinating Committee Student Non-Violent (SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), the main militant group human rights of black youth who was doing most of the fieldwork in the South. SDS also became one of the most visible of what would become a mass movement against the Vietnam War organizing the first national demonstration on April 17, 1965. At that time, it was unusual to question the "foreign policy" of "our" government, so only by making a call on this occasion and it was a radical protest, attended by 20,000 people and was quite impressive. The work for this event also led to a split defined by a SDS's parent organization, the League for Democracy Industrial (LID, League for Industrial Democracy), when they disobeyed his orders to exclude the Communists.

SDS, founded in 1960, received its first definition by the Port Huron Statement of 1962. The fundamental concept was that of participatory democracy: Beyond elect leaders, people had to participate directly in discussions and decisions affecting their lives, even in the economic sphere. The issues that were imposed were the civil rights movement and peace (as opposed to the cold war and nuclear bombs). The first set of SDS work, together with its alliance with SNCC, was the Research and Action Project Economic (ERAP). Students went to live in poor communities to "build an interracial movement of the poor." Despite the success of the organization was limited, the experience was profound.

SDS boiling with youthful vitality. Most of us would reject both the harassment of the Communists and the Soviet model of "socialism." In our conventions waving red flags (communist) and black (anarchist). We tried to apply a participatory democracy to our organization, with varying results. Question the hierarchy was liberating, even though it was often chaotic and inefficient. But there was a real problem with "the tyranny of structuralism" when decisions were made informally and irresponsibly.

The intensification of the Vietnam War and the dramatic progress of SNCC, in the summer of 1966, from civil rights black power had brought new challenges and led to some tension between the old guard, absorbed by ERAT, and newly arrived young militants. SDS was not prepared for the rapidly expanding anti-war movement, but made a radical and militant presence in a much broader coalition. Naively, SDS still defining the system as a "corporate liberalism" while we were fighting to unite our anti-racist and anti-war momentum to an economic critique.

When the Black Panther Party (Black Panther Party) made its debut on the national scene, the impact was electrifying. They armed themselves in self-defense to protect communities from police brutality and community self-help programs (free breakfasts for schoolchildren, free clinics, free schools) providing a living example of revolutionary nationalism and self-determination for the oppressed. Many other revolutionary nationalist groups, all applying the lessons of Malcolm X, emerged during this period. At the same time, were published the first photos Vietnamese children being bombarded with U.S. napalm bombs - which drove us crazy for stopping the war. SDS's slogan became "from protest to resistance", focused on militant resistance.

Meanwhile, the inspiration of the civil rights movement, energetic and key work of women within it, and the problems of sexism within the left, led to a revival of women's liberation. One such example was the first workshop of SDS devoted entirely to women in our sixth national convention. The air crackled with energy and creativity generated by women. But his report to the plenary had a raucous welcome - including catcalls and paper airplanes - by many men of SDS. Since there had been little tradition of struggle, it is not surprising that men remained fairly sexist, but outright hostility that was embarrassing for an organization that was proud of being always on the side of the oppressed. That debacle was an example of the problems that pushed many women to abandon the "left" and contributed to an unfortunate tension between anti-imperialism and feminism, which weakened both. Many women with early-strengthened by the example and leadership, often unrecognized, women of color - continued to fight on both fronts, but it cost them an effort to Amazon.

A highlight of the fight was spotted in 1968, with the powerful Vietnamese Tet Offensive and the nearly one hundred uprisings in the ghettos of the United States after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. These events inspired to SDS student strikes would bring forward that closed dozens of universities. We started naming and analyzing the system as "imperialism." Che Guevara's slogan of "2, 3, many Vietnams" indicated as a giant may finally be exhausted and defeated. The black rebellion was accompanied by the increased number of militants of the Native Americans, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and Asians in the United States.

The government's response was a fierce campaign of disruption and violence, called COINTELPRO, a program counter (see Agents of Repression by Ward Churchill and Jim Vander Wall). Over thirty Panthers were killed between 1968 and 1971, and over a thousand were imprisoned. Many other groups and activists were also attacked. Although this level of repression is not generally used against whites, suffer harassment, arrests and the threat of conscription in wartime. More importantly, we identified ourselves with the Panthers and had promised to stand by his side. Despite how quickly the movement had grown, were still being a tiny minority of white America. We began to think that everything that was needed was to "shake the moral conscience of America." Now we were facing the most powerful government in world history.

Under this tremendous pressure, SDS suffered a rupture along the fault line that builds white supremacy in America: between the desire to base a possible majority among white Americans and the demanding need for militant solidarity with Blacks and other struggles in the Third World. One side (appealing to a Eurocentric Marxism) said that the revolution could only be the work of the working class, and used that as an excuse the left to avoid having to fight on the side of Vietnam and the Panthers, claiming that "all nationalism is reactionary." The other side (inspired by the Marxist leadership of the struggles of third world), right, was in solidarity with national liberation a priority for any revolutionary movement that wanted to be recognized as such. However, mistakenly abandon any attempt to organize large quantities of white people, which also limited our base for anti-racist activism.

While breaking the siren sounded a real dilemma, there was a chance - although, of course, would have been difficult to achieve - to build a broad movement and workers had a greater base without having to play into the racist traditions of the unions. This strategy would have involved bringing together the growing rebellion of youth to the imperialist policies, as an alliance with the emerging women's movement.

We were too overwhelmed with stark challenges of life and death, mixed with our own inexperience and weaknesses, to implement this strategy in practice. SDS split in the year 1969/70. One result was the emergence of a number of organizations that more or less reproduced the traditional left-wing opportunism towards the white working class. Another result was the Weather Underground Organization (WUO), a group without precedent, though seriously flawed, who served six years of armed actions in solidarity with national liberation struggles.

Weather Underground Organization

In a society where each and every one of the movies and television programs show that the FBI "always manages to arrest the guilty," the Weather Underground Organization avoided being captured and held, taking action military for six years. In the white supremacist Amerika, where historically most promising radical movements that emerged among whites (populism, vote women, trade unionism) were affected with racism, WUO was better, at least, known for their solidarity with national liberation. In a world where governments "legitimate" bombing villages and murdering activists and he ruined any armed resistance as "terrorist" WUO conducted more than twenty attacks against government and corporate violence without killing anyone or having done much some scratches to a civilian.

The springboard for these developments was the historical context. The decades of 60 and 70 had no precedent in world history by the number of revolutions that occurred in a short period of time, as national liberation movements in Asia, Africa and Latin America to end colonialism and neocolonialism, it was also the height of the struggle of blacks and other Third World struggles inside the United States. These events prompted the growth of radicalism within the white people. WUO no conspiracy was formed as a small but quite the opposite, was the central point in the growing wave of antiwar activism, as the fires of thousands of military buildings and branches of Bank of America or the thousands of people engaged in demonstrations which broke windows of government, big fish derailed meetings and refused to arrests.

The exciting developments of the Weather Underground Organization coexisted with costly mistakes. The first and most obvious was during the first six months (late 69 to early 70), while still stayed in the law: our chilling and inexcusable glorification of violence, which seriously contradict the basis of our political and humanist militancy. Thereby effectively deliver a munition for those who wanted to discredit our priority with the struggles of third world and our step towards armed struggle. So far, almost all the "history" has been written about WUO has been in the habit of passing a those first six months as if it were the whole story, without looking at our correction of that error and the following six years of strong anti-imperialist action and human.

In my opinion, the basis for our first aberration was life or death crisis that divided SDS. We were middle class white kids who - witnessing the extensive bombing in Vietnam and the assassination of Black Panthers who admired - we felt compelled to make the leap to armed struggle. Instead of admitting our fear and inexperience and develop appropriate transitional strategy, we prepared mentally glorifying violence and macho challenges of courage personnel each. The frenzy was accompanied by two basic errors that were related: 1) Sectarianism - a scathing contempt for anyone not directly assist the armed struggle (Sectarianism was mutual for most of the white left vehemently sought to discredit the armed struggle .) 2) Militarism - make military prowess and daring of the group are more important than the political principles and the need to build a movement at all levels.

The sins of commission of the premature death of WUO were quite obvious. The terrible passivity of most of the white left before the first attacks on the Black Panthers gave the government signal would not have to face a large political costs to begin to fully develop the COINTELPRO campaign, which would kill and imprison scores of thousands of black activists, Native Americans and Latinos.

The WUO militarism culminated on 03/06/1970 when a desperate effort to make a bomb, weapons including mines, ended in an accidental explosion at a safe house (known as the Townhouse explosion) that ended the life of three of our young people and great comrades. This tragedy sparked an intense internal struggle that led to a qualitative shift towards use of more integrated the armed struggle in helping to mobilize and radicalize a strong mass base among white youth. Only two months later, young people are made to the street with the force of more than one million people in an angry response to the murder of four anti-war protesters from the State University Kent State, and carried out strikes thousand student campus in about an end to the other of the United States. At the same time, the critical need for antiracist direction revealed a painful unable to respond in a similar way when the police killed two black students at Jackson State.

militarism Overcoming WUO did not magically everything in perfect balance. While it was correct to see a potential base in youth culture, quickly repeat the typical mistakes based on white supremacy. For example: 1) Our little material assistance to armed groups, blacks, Latinos and Native (even in hiding, whites had much better access to resources and were less exposed to random police harassment), 2) To address youth white, we passed the "soft drugs (hashish and LSD), with a minimum assessment of drugs as a form of chemical warfare against the ghettos and barrios, 3) We fail to respond to very constructive criticism on our initial slip close of drugs and militancy that made us the Panther 21; 4) There were moments of tremendous passivity after and during the Native American occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 and the subsequent siege of the town government.

is not surprising that more of our internal weaknesses were based on sexism, heterosexuality and class. The participation of women and their percentage of leadership were very high, but in practice, a woman should be part of a heterosexual couple to be an important leader. We had a short program about the liberation of women, and err by not being able to make a serious effort to form a necessary alliance between anti-imperialism and feminism. Infighting on sexism were very inadequate, which fits with the fact that we were part of a homophobic culture. While many gay and lesbian comrades had the strength to declare gay while we were in hiding, there was no real space for a culture L / G stated; not declared homosexuals to take over leadership positions, and we had a political agenda about issues L / G. Similarly, our middle-class home meant we did a little work to access sections of the youth belonging to the working class.

relationship problems existed in our internal life. We adopt the theory of democratic centralism, but in practice the organization was very hierarchical. The leaders tended to become manipulative and tax, as the pictures tend to ingratiate himself with them. Criticism and self-criticism is used to complete maneuvers to gain power rather than be used for construction personnel. Although key for survival was a strong organization (and the lonely fugitive must go through much more difficult situations), that actually made social ostracism a blow to political dissidents. To my knowledge, there is still no clear model and fruitful enough for the two critical needs that give rise to internal democratic process in full and narrow discipline to fight relentlessly against a State can be combined.

For me a crucial lesson is that activists must confront consciously against the powerful attraction of ego that cause us to put our leadership position and above the interests and power of the oppressed. Organizationally, we need to strive to live my politics - anti-racism, feminism, democracy, humanism - in our personal relationships.

Despite these significant shortcomings, six years of stunning success was the result obtained to implement what was right, anti-imperialism. Contrary to the deceptions of spy movies are only based on sophisticated techniques and technology, our survival in the underground was based on popular support from the radical youth anti-war movement. That was the key to solving needs such as obtaining identification documents, money and safe houses. There were times when we feel the breath of the FBI in our necks, but popular support meant that the information flowing to keep the guerrillas away from the state.

Our fight scene was the "armed propaganda", with no hope of confronting the military power yet. Instead, the purposes of the actions were: 1) Remove repressive of the heat concentrated on the black movement, Native and Latin, 2) Create an example of political leadership of white solidarity with national liberation, 3) To educate about important political issues, 4) Identify the responsible institutions oppression, 5) Encourage other people to step up their activism despite state repression. Also we provided examples of non-armed struggle (for example, spray-painted), seeking dialogue with the movement in legal writing and reading the answers in radical newspapers, and even developing our own print shop in the underground. Wrote and published the book Prairie Fire, well-developed a manifesto on the politics of revolutionary anti-imperialism.
over twenty
The WUO bombings included the Capitol building after the U.S. expand the war in Indochina by invading Laos in February 1971, the headquarters of the New York prison after the slaughter of Attica in September 1971, and Kennecott Copper Company on the anniversary of the bloody coup against democracy in Chile, 1973. Each share was accompanied by a very reasoned statement expressing political issues. While there were no 100% guarantee, we set the highest priority to avoid civilian casualties, and fortunately we got it.

The FBI never ended WUO, but between 1976 and 1977 imploding due to our own weaknesses. The collapse occurred when reverting to traditional errors white left, with the policies of the "international working class, and plan to come out of hiding in order to focus on" lead "the" American Revolution attached to the full. " These positions denied independence and the leadership role of people of color within the United States and at the same time weakened the autonomous women's formations. When these forces harshly criticized us, we - with our vitality undermined by the lack of democracy domestic - we could not take it and instead we broke up in heavy reproach.

WUO was born in the stunning birth of national liberation, as opposed to the founding of the United States based on white supremacy and behind the exciting victories of the movement that met with fierce repression. Our loss also was rooted in a strong historical realities: 1) COINTELPRO (along with our internal weaknesses) had decimated the black leadership, Native and Latin which had inspired the progressive movement among whites, 2) our sturdy base, the movement against war, was reduced dramatically after the withdrawal by the United States from Vietnam in 1973, 3) No, we realized that we had not done enough to turn awareness into a deep anti-war anti-racism and anti-imperialism.

Being studying history, we need to break with the dominant culture defines people simply as "good guys" or "bad guys", which can lead to self-deception that we are providing basic guarantees certain that all we do is right. WUO made huge mistakes as both pioneering advances. Hopefully, both are rich in lessons for a new generation of activists.

David Gilbert

This essay was originally written for the newspaper ONSWARD (spring and summer of 2001), an anarchist publication of news, opinion, theory and strategy for the present.

In 1965, David Gilbert was the founding president of the Vietnam Committee and one of the founding members of the organization SDS at Columbia University (New York). In 1967, he wrote the first national SDS pamphlet on "U.S. imperialism." Participated in the strike at Columbia in 1968 and later went underground as a member of the Weather Underground Organization (WUO) in 1970. Is serving a sentence life imprisonment after being arrested for his supporting role in an expropriation of the Black Liberation Army (Black Liberation Army, BLA) in 1981 during the "Brinks case."