Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA)
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a California leftist
revolutionary group active from 1973 through the mid 1970s. A primary goal of the organization was the
“gaining of freedom and self-determination and independence for all their
people and races.” The SLA utilized tactics of expropriation, direct action and
armed propaganda to stimulate public awareness and action around issues of
poverty, housing, racism, women’s rights, and prison issues. Despite undertaking
a number of controversial and sometimes polarizing actions, one of the foremost
successes of the SLA was forcing the Hearst family to give away millions of
dollars worth of food from Safeway grocery stores to impoverished communities
in the Bay Area.
Highlights of our collection include scanned copies of the
Dragon, a rare periodical produced by the Bay Area Research Collective in
support of the SLA; original SLA communiqués, statements and publications; and press
releases, flyers and statements from other Bay Area radical groups concerning
SLA actions and ideas. Additionally, we have hundreds of articles taken from
local Bay Area news sources, all pertaining to the SLA and the group’s
activities. Our collection of paper documents is supplemented by our media
holdings primarily derived from local recordings and programs. These include
memorial shows, audio from rallies and news programs and taped communiqués.
Subcollections
-
The Dragon
Periodical in support of the SLA printed monthly by the Bay Area Research Collective.
Documents
Weather Underground February 20, 1974
This pamphlet is from the Weather Underground and commends the SLA for kidnapping Patricia Hearst in order to give food to the poor people. Bernadine Dohrn offers four points in response to the war between the rich and the poor.
For the Symbionese Liberation Army
A poem written by "a sister in the Weather Underground" to the Symbionese Liberation Army. The poem warns of who the real terrorists are and supports revolutionary struggle.
H.E.W. is an Enemy of Women
This communique by the Women's Brigade of the Weather Underground states that the actions taken by SLA to give food to the impoverished highlight the amount of people in poverty and in need. They argue that the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare denies women their needs and rights and their should be a revolution against the organization.
Free the SLA
This statement written from the "underground" critiques the current revolutionary groups and provides directions for how the Left should continue. Its idea to unite the masses includes building a non-racist movement, incorporating the ideology of feminism into all theory and practice, and creating organizations capable of surviving repression from oppositional forces.
Our Guerrilla Forces: SLA Flyer
A flyer with a poem on the back calling for union of all guerrilla forces. Also, the poem grieves for the loss of the six members of the SLA slain in Los Angeles.
Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 4 NovemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: Introduction, Letter from Emily Harris, October 27, 1975, Lolita Lebron and Blanca Canales, Susan Saze Statement, June 9, 1975, On Being Underground -- Katherine Power and Susan Saxe, Colation Against Psychiatric Assault: Demonstration, A Collective Letter to the Women's Movement from the Women of the Weather Underground, WUO Women's Brigade bombs Dept of H.E.W., March 1974, Poem, Statement from Sisters of the Symbionese Liberation Army, October 21, 1975, Militant Women: a Brief History, Open Letter to the Fighting Forces, Puerto Rican Solidarity, New World Liberation Front Communique: Fort Ord
Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1975Volume Number: No. 5 DecemberFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: Letter from the Smybionese Liberation Army December/75, Our Back Pages: B.A.R.C., Letters, Nam Brothers: Ashanti, Black Liberation Army, The Weather Underground Organization film, Blurbs, Politics in Command: Weather Underground, Women's Gun Pamphlet: book review, New World Liberation Front, structure, New Worl Liberation Front, community health strategy, The Zapata Unit: B.A.R.C., An Open Letter to the People, the Zapata Unit, and New Dawn.
Dragon
Publisher: Bay Area Research CollectiveYear: 1976Volume Number: No. 7 February - MarchFormat: PeriodicalCollection: The Dragon
Table of Contents: BARC on Patricia Hearst, New World Liberation Front Bombs San Simeon Castle, Bill and Emily Harris: A Political Statement, Joe Remiro and Russ Little's Trial Ends, Attend the Trial of Eugene Allen and Ernest Graham, Analysis of the Weather Underground by: Ken Como and Anthony Bottom, Steven Soliah Stands Trial in Sacramento, Activity of the New World Liberation Front, NWLF Communique: Scumlords, NWLF Communique: PG&E, BARC: On Reprinting Arms Instructions, The Urban Guerrilla: Now Available, Emiliano Zapata Unit Busts, Young Dragon, a Poem.
Communique from Combat Unit Four Black Liberation Army
An Open Letter to the People and all Combat Units of the "New World Liberation Front (NWLF)"
