Seattle Liberation Front
| Seattle Liberation Front | |
|---|---|
| Participant in the Opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War | |
| Active | 1970 |
| Ideology | Anti-war |
| Groups | Seattle Seven |
| Leaders | Michael Lerner |
| Area of operations | Seattle |
| Allies | Weather Underground |
| Opponents | United States |
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.
After the nationwide organization Students for a Democratic Society 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.
Chip Marshall 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 the Weathermen, a radical left faction. He said the Weathermen had established cultural standards to which members were to adhere. Marshall did not agree with destroying monogamy, cutting family ties, and devaluing personal relationships. The relationship between the 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.
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