The Lessons of the Weather Underground
The Recent notoriety of 1960’s radial activist Bill Ayers has sparked renewed interest in the revolutionary group he helped found, The Weather Underground. In a recent article in the The Nation, fellow founder Mark Rudd shared his insights about the group’s legacy.
From The Nation:
“The Weather Underground set its sights on the revolutionary overthrow of the United States government. Its members preached sacrifice of privilege and solidarity with anti-racist struggles from Vietnam to America’s ghettos. As one of its leaders, Bernadine Dohrn, said, ‘White youth must choose sides now. They must either fight on the side of the oppressed, or be on the side of the oppressor.’
“During the 1970s, the Weather Underground staged over a dozen bombings at sites ranging from the New York police department to the Pentagon. Aside from one accidental detonation that killed three Weathermen, the group did not inflict any casualties.
“Today, Rudd is unsparing in his critique of the organization he helped found. ‘It was juvenile, it was less than juvenile,’ Rudd said. Though the Weather Underground gained rapid notoriety for its views, the group, Rudd argues, helped pave the way for the unmaking of the student left. By discarding SDS and pursuing militancy, says Rudd, the Weather Underground abandoned the basic principle of any strong political movement: a commitment to organizing.
“According to Rudd, this is a legacy that persists in contemporary student movements. Failure to do the hard work of organizing, Rudd said, is what continues to hold progressive students back today, even as they try to piece together new methods of political engagement. …”
>> Check out the excellent documentary film, The Weather Underground HERE
