Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The Weather Underground, or Weathermen as they were initially known, was an organization of extremist members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) who became the most violent, vocal, and instrumental groups of 1960s youth culture. Taking their name from Bob Dylan's lyric “You don't need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows,” from the song “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” the group argued that Weathermen, as a group, were a necessity in order to show people which way the wind actually blew. This would begin a plural movement of Weathermen that grew out of a weakening solidarity within SDS and later splintered from the organization to form their own faction in pursuit of an extreme-left position aimed at bringing the war in Vietnam to an end. Culminating during the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago when protest turned to violence and police brutality, the Weathermen sought a new campaign that would “bring the war home.” Although their numbers were small, the Weathermen consisted of members who were charismatic and articulate. Emerging as leaders, Bernardine Dohrn, Kathy Boudin, and William Ayers absorbed the media spotlight, expelling a brash rhetoric that promised violent action against the establishment. The Weathermen united under a militant cause that hailed violence as the only way to combat an unjust system. Its members were enraged by what was seemingly ... log in or subscribe to read full text