User:Neongolden
Scott Braley | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 26, 1947 Midland, Michigan |
| Occupation(s) | Photographer and activist |
| Known for | Former member of the Weather Underground Organization |
Scott Braley (March 26, 1947 - ) was a leftist activist and a regional organizer for the Michigan State chapter of the Students for a Democratic Society, better known as SDS. Braley became a member of the Weather Underground Organization in 1969 and remained so until the group disbanded in 1977. Braley was one of the original members of the RYM block, a group that devoted itself to anti-racism and Third World struggles which would later evolve into Weatherman.
Revolutionary Beginnings
[edit]Martin Luther King Jr. was an inspiration for Braley, and the logic behind the need for the escalation of the struggle for equal rights.[1] “It seemed like a pretty clear choice,” Braley was quoted as saying. “To be on the immoral and historically losing side of white supremacy, or to join a vibrant struggle for liberation around the world.” <ref. Berger 57 </ref> It was because of MLK that Braley dropped out of school in 1967 and started organizing SDS chapters in his area full time. [2]
Flint Michigan War Council
[edit]The December 1969 SDS National Meeting, later called the Flint War Council, held in Flint Michigan would be the last meeting that would be held by SDS. [3] It was during this meeting that the Weatherman members officially decided to move underground.[4] Attendees at the War Council discussed issues such as women’s liberation, youth culture, and the imperialism that they saw existing in the events of the Vietnam War.[5] SDS would demonstrate these issues and opinions through satirical Christmas carols and spinoffs of popular songs, such as changing the lyrics to the Supremes’ “Stop In the Name of Love” to “Stop This Imperialist Plunder.” [6] It is noted that the room in which the SDS National War Council was held was rented under Braley's name.[7]
Hampton-Clark Murders
[edit]Frank Hampton was an activist and the leader of the Chicago chapter of the Black Panthers. Considered by the Weathermen to be a comrade in the struggle for black rights, Hampton criticized the Weatherman’s actions, especially those used in the Days of Rage, calling the group opportunistic and chauvinistic.[8] Two months after the Days of Rage in 1969, Hampton was found murdered in his apartment, along with fellow Black Panther Mark Clark. [9] When the murder was linked to the FBI, Braley was quoted as saying that the murders proved that “the stakes really were what we thought they were.”[10]
Underground
[edit]When the group went Underground, Braley went with them and remained there until the dissolution of WUO in 1977, though he originally opposed the suggestion of surfacing. Braley states in the book Outlaws of America that the decision was tormenting.[11]
Red Dragon Print Collective
[edit]In 1973, the Weather Underground Organization established a printing operation called the Red Dragon Print Collective which Braley helped run.[12] Run out of a soundproof apartment, the print collective was a formative part of the Weather underground for its final three years. [13] The Red Dragon Print Collective was responsible for producing the Weather Underground’s book Prairie Fire, in which all printing, binding, and collating of materials was done by the members themselves. [14] All work had to be done while wearing gloves in order to ensure that no fingerprints could be lifted.[15]
Recent History
[edit]Scott Braley now lives in Oakland, California where he works as a photographer for social justice and non profit organizations. [16]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Dan Berger, “Outlaws of America”, (AK Press 2006)
- FBI Files: Weather Underground Organization (Weathermen) Retrieved from http://foia.fbi.gov
- Jeremy Varon, "Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence In the Sixties and Seventies", (Berkeley California Press, 2004)
- “The Weather Underground”, documentary produced by Carrie Lozano, directed by Bill Siegel and Sam Green, New Video Group, 2003, DVD
- The Weather Underground: report of the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-fourth Congress, first session. January 1975.