User:Shineonyou/Sandbox

The origins of the Weatherman can be traced to the collapse and fragmentation of the Students for a Democratic Society. The most significant split came between the mainstream leadership of SDS, or "National Office" and the Progressive Labor Party. The internal struggle with Progressive Labor pushed SDS as a whole further to the left. National Office leaders began announcing their emerging perspectives, such as Bernardine Dohrn and Mike Klonsky. Klonksy's published a document called "Toward a Revolutionary Youth Movement" which created the idea of a Revolutionary Youth Movement (RYM). RYM promoted the philosophy that young workers possessed the potential to be a revolutionary force to overthrow capitalism, if not by themselves then by transmitting radical ideas to the working class. Eventually adopted as official SDS doctrine, Klonsky's document reflected the growing leftist philosophy of the National Office.

During the Summer of 1969, the National Office began to split as well. One group led by Klonsky, became known as RYM II. The other side, was led by Dohrn endorsed more aggressive tactics. At an SDS convention in Chicago on June 18, 1969, the National Office attempted to convince unaffiliated delegates to not endorse Progressive Labor ideals. At the beginning of the convention, two position papers were passed out by the National Office leadership, one a revised statement of Klonksy's RYM manifesto, the other called "You Don't Need a Weatherman to Known Which Way the Wind Blows." The latter document outlined the position of the group that would become the Weathermen. It had been signed by 11 people - Mark Rudd, Bernardine Dohrn, John Jacobs, Bill Ayers, Jim Mellen, Terry Robbins, Howie Machtinger, Karen Ashley, Jeff Jones (activist), Gerry Long, and Steve Tappis.

Image:http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/weatherunderground/images/movement_bomb.jpg|Caption1