8/4/2003
The Weatherman Underground
Yesterday I took the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into the city to stay with Mike. We ate at a sushi place and then walked to this movie theater to see this documentary on the Weathermen Underground. Named after the Bob Dylan lyric from Subterranean Homesick Blues, ". . . you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows," symbolizing for them the obviousness of the coming world wide revolution against the power structures of governments and societies.
They took over the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and had as their goal the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Essentially a band of radical left terrorists they carried out a series of bombings of government buildings. One quote which stuck with me from one of the former members ran something like this, "it's incredible what you can do when you believe right is on your side."
Another surprise was confirmation of what I had always heard through other people that the U.S. FBI had files ordering the destruction of various subversive groups and people including the Weather Underground, the Black Panthers, and Dr. Martin Luther King.
The parallels between that time and this one were also interesting. Large portions of the public and the student body frustrated over an unwanted, insane war, the government pushing the limits of the law in tracking citizens, etc, etc.
They took over the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and had as their goal the violent overthrow of the U.S. government. Essentially a band of radical left terrorists they carried out a series of bombings of government buildings. One quote which stuck with me from one of the former members ran something like this, "it's incredible what you can do when you believe right is on your side."
Another surprise was confirmation of what I had always heard through other people that the U.S. FBI had files ordering the destruction of various subversive groups and people including the Weather Underground, the Black Panthers, and Dr. Martin Luther King.
The parallels between that time and this one were also interesting. Large portions of the public and the student body frustrated over an unwanted, insane war, the government pushing the limits of the law in tracking citizens, etc, etc.
While for black and Hispanic households it is $105,675 ($33,170).
