Seattle Liberation Front
Encyclopedia
The Seattle Liberation Front, or SLF, was a radical anti-Vietnam War
movement, based in Seattle, Washington
, in the United States
. The group, founded by then-University of Washington
visiting philosophy professor and political activist Michael Lerner
, carried out its protest activities from 1970 to 1971.
The most famous members of the SLF were the "Seattle Seven" — seven SLF members charged with "conspiracy to incite a riot" in the wake of a violent protest at a courthouse. The members of the Seattle Seven were Lerner himself, as well as Jeff Dowd
, Joe Kelly, Susan Stern
, Michael Abeles, Charles Marshall III
, and Roger Lippman.
disintegrated in 1969, Michael Lerner
, an instructor newly arrived in Seattle from Berkeley, California
, felt compelled to start up his own local group. He kick-started his efforts by inviting Jerry Rubin
, a notable counterculture figure, to speak on the University of Washington campus on January 17, 1970 – two days later, the SLF was formed, largely composed of students and radicals coming out of organizations (like the SDS) that had recently disbanded. One of the SLF's first actions was to hold a demonstration in support of the Chicago Seven
, a group of radicals charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
.
was one of the leading members of the Seattle Liberation Front after the split within the SDS in 1969. In an interview with Time magazine in 1980, Marshall commented on the takeover of the SDS by Weatherman, a radical left faction. He said Weatherman had established cultural standards to which members were to adhere. Marshall did not agree with destroying monogamy, cutting family ties, and dis-valuing personal relationships. The relationship between Weatherman and the Seattle Liberation Front remains somewhat ambiguous. Both groups shared many of the same political viewpoints, where they participated in protests and demonstrations. Marshall's comments depict the void that separated the two groups from working together based on their common viewpoints.
indicted eight members of the SLF on charges of inciting the February 17 riot (one of the eight, Michael Justesen
, disappeared but was later arrested in California by the FBI in an infiltration of the Weather Underground
). Federal District Judge George Boldt was assigned the case, which began in his Tacoma
courtroom on November 6, 1970. The trial was quickly derailed by the defendants' vocal disruptions, a protest walkout, and their eventual refusal to enter the courtroom. Boldt declared a mistrial on December 10, citing all defendants for contempt of court
. He summarily found them guilty of contempt, sentenced them to six months in prison, and refused to grant bail
. The defendants eventually served three months in prison.
The original charges of inciting a riot and conspiracy to damage the Seattle Federal Building were unsuccessfully prosecuted. Most observers agreed that the prosecution's case was floundering (aided by the admission of government witnesses on the stand that they would "go to any length" to combat the radicals. It is believed that the Seattle Seven would have been freed had they not provoked the elderly judge with catcalls during the proceedings.
, which folded in December after a three-month run amid political infighting among the staff. In late 1971, the SLF was disbanded. Many of the individual SLF members continued to promote diverse social movements, such as Capitol Hill's "Country Doc" Clinic.” Lerner, the founder of SLF, eventually became the editor of the Tikkun
, and an advisor to President Clinton
and Hillary Clinton. Jeff Dowd
went to Hollywood to become a screenwriter
and producer
. Chip Marshall
remained active in Washington politics, running for Seattle City Council
in 1976 and working as a neighborhood activist in Issaquah.
In the movie The Big Lebowski
, the main character The Dude
(who is based on Jeff Dowd) says "Did you ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me... and six other guys."
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
movement, based in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The group, founded by then-University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
visiting philosophy professor and political activist Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner (rabbi)
Michael Lerner is a political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.-Family and Education:...
, carried out its protest activities from 1970 to 1971.
The most famous members of the SLF were the "Seattle Seven" — seven SLF members charged with "conspiracy to incite a riot" in the wake of a violent protest at a courthouse. The members of the Seattle Seven were Lerner himself, as well as Jeff Dowd
Jeff Dowd
Jeff Dowd is an American film producer and political activist best known as a member of the "Seattle Seven," who went to jail following a violent protest against the Vietnam war....
, Joe Kelly, Susan Stern
Susan Stern
Susan Ellen Stern was an American political activist.She was a member of the prominent anti-Vietnam War groups Students for a Democratic Society , Weatherman and the Seattle Liberation Front ....
, Michael Abeles, Charles Marshall III
Chip Marshall
Charles "Chip" Marshall III is a political activist, and was a member of the prominent anti-Vietnam War group, the Seattle Liberation Front . He ran for Seattle City Council in 1975, but was unsuccessful. Since then, he has helped to develop Issaquah's Klahanie community.- References :...
, and Roger Lippman.
Formation
After the nationwide organization Students for a Democratic SocietyStudents for a Democratic Society (1960 organization)
Students for a Democratic Society was a student activist movement in the United States that was one of the main iconic representations of the country's New Left. The organization developed and expanded rapidly in the mid-1960s before dissolving at its last convention in 1969...
disintegrated in 1969, Michael Lerner
Michael Lerner (rabbi)
Michael Lerner is a political activist, the editor of Tikkun, a progressive Jewish interfaith magazine based in Berkeley, California, and the rabbi of Beyt Tikkun Synagogue of San Francisco.-Family and Education:...
, an instructor newly arrived in Seattle from Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, felt compelled to start up his own local group. He kick-started his efforts by inviting Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin
Jerry Rubin was an American social activist during the 1960s and 1970s. During the 1980s, he became a successful businessman.-Early life:...
, a notable counterculture figure, to speak on the University of Washington campus on January 17, 1970 – two days later, the SLF was formed, largely composed of students and radicals coming out of organizations (like the SDS) that had recently disbanded. One of the SLF's first actions was to hold a demonstration in support of the Chicago Seven
Chicago Seven
The Chicago Seven were seven defendants—Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968...
, a group of radicals charged with inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention
1968 Democratic National Convention
The 1968 Democratic National Convention of the U.S. Democratic Party was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois, from August 26 to August 29, 1968. Because Democratic President Lyndon Johnson had announced he would not seek a second term, the purpose of the convention was to...
.
Affiliation with Weatherman
Chip MarshallChip Marshall
Charles "Chip" Marshall III is a political activist, and was a member of the prominent anti-Vietnam War group, the Seattle Liberation Front . He ran for Seattle City Council in 1975, but was unsuccessful. Since then, he has helped to develop Issaquah's Klahanie community.- References :...
was one of the leading members of the Seattle Liberation Front after the split within the SDS in 1969. In an interview with Time magazine in 1980, Marshall commented on the takeover of the SDS by Weatherman, a radical left faction. He said Weatherman had established cultural standards to which members were to adhere. Marshall did not agree with destroying monogamy, cutting family ties, and dis-valuing personal relationships. The relationship between Weatherman and the Seattle Liberation Front remains somewhat ambiguous. Both groups shared many of the same political viewpoints, where they participated in protests and demonstrations. Marshall's comments depict the void that separated the two groups from working together based on their common viewpoints.
Demonstration
SLF planned a demonstration to be held at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Seattle on February 17, 1970. It is commonly referred to by former SLF members as "The Day After" or "TDA." The roughly 2,000 protesters in attendance escalated their protests into violence, throwing rocks and paint bombs at both the courthouse and at police responding to the scene. Twenty were injured in the riot, and 76 were arrested. In March 1970, the Seattle Liberation Front, UW Black Student Union and Weatherman organized hundreds of protesters at the University of Washington’s campus. The groups wanted the university to sever its athletic links with Brigham Young University, a Mormon school that was accused of racism. Seattle Liberation Front and Black Student Union supporters initiated a riot that moved through eleven buildings at the University of Washington’s Seattle campus. Around 200 chanting demonstrators left a trail of damage throughout the campus.Charges and trial
Two months later, on April 16, a federal grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indicted eight members of the SLF on charges of inciting the February 17 riot (one of the eight, Michael Justesen
Michael Justesen
Michael Justesen is a former member of Students for a Democratic Society , the Seattle Liberation Front and Weather Underground Organization .-Early education and activism:...
, disappeared but was later arrested in California by the FBI in an infiltration of the Weather Underground
Weatherman (organization)
Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization , was an American radical left organization. It originated in 1969 as a faction of Students for a Democratic Society composed for the most part of the national office leadership of SDS and their...
). Federal District Judge George Boldt was assigned the case, which began in his Tacoma
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
courtroom on November 6, 1970. The trial was quickly derailed by the defendants' vocal disruptions, a protest walkout, and their eventual refusal to enter the courtroom. Boldt declared a mistrial on December 10, citing all defendants for contempt of court
Contempt of court
Contempt of court is a court order which, in the context of a court trial or hearing, declares a person or organization to have disobeyed or been disrespectful of the court's authority...
. He summarily found them guilty of contempt, sentenced them to six months in prison, and refused to grant bail
Bail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. The defendants eventually served three months in prison.
The original charges of inciting a riot and conspiracy to damage the Seattle Federal Building were unsuccessfully prosecuted. Most observers agreed that the prosecution's case was floundering (aided by the admission of government witnesses on the stand that they would "go to any length" to combat the radicals. It is believed that the Seattle Seven would have been freed had they not provoked the elderly judge with catcalls during the proceedings.
Aftermath/ Recent Activities
Due to the publicity of the trial, the Seattle Liberation Front faced ideological dissension, personality conflicts, and charges of "male chauvinism." In the fall of 1970 SLF sponsored a brief-lived weekly underground newspaper, SabotSabot (newspaper)
Sabot was a brief-lived underground newspaper published in Seattle, Washington by the Seattle Liberation Front from September 11, 1970 to January 13, 1971. Sixteen weekly issues were published in all. The paper was started as a replacement for the Seattle Helix which had published its last issue in...
, which folded in December after a three-month run amid political infighting among the staff. In late 1971, the SLF was disbanded. Many of the individual SLF members continued to promote diverse social movements, such as Capitol Hill's "Country Doc" Clinic.” Lerner, the founder of SLF, eventually became the editor of the Tikkun
Tikkun (magazine)
Tikkun is a quarterly English-language magazine, published in the United States, that analyzes American and Israeli culture, politics, religion and history from a leftist-progressive viewpoint, and provides commentary about Israeli politics and Jewish life in North America...
, and an advisor to President Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Hillary Clinton. Jeff Dowd
Jeff Dowd
Jeff Dowd is an American film producer and political activist best known as a member of the "Seattle Seven," who went to jail following a violent protest against the Vietnam war....
went to Hollywood to become a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
. Chip Marshall
Chip Marshall
Charles "Chip" Marshall III is a political activist, and was a member of the prominent anti-Vietnam War group, the Seattle Liberation Front . He ran for Seattle City Council in 1975, but was unsuccessful. Since then, he has helped to develop Issaquah's Klahanie community.- References :...
remained active in Washington politics, running for Seattle City Council
Seattle City Council
The Seattle City Council is committed to ensuring that Seattle, Washington, is safe, livable and sustainable. Nine Councilmembers are elected to four-year terms in nonpartisan elections and represent the entire city, elected by all Seattle voters....
in 1976 and working as a neighborhood activist in Issaquah.
In the movie The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
, the main character The Dude
The Big Lebowski
The Big Lebowski is a 1998 comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges stars as Jeff Lebowski, an unemployed Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler, who is referred to as "The Dude". After a case of mistaken identity, The Dude is introduced to a millionaire also named...
(who is based on Jeff Dowd) says "Did you ever hear of the Seattle Seven? That was me... and six other guys."
External links
- HistoryLink.org Seattle Liberation Front
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections - Vietnam War Era Ephemera This collection contains leaflets and newspapers that were distributed on the University of Washington campus during the decades of the 1960s and 1970s. Includes ephemera from the Seattle Liberation Front.