Do You Know How the Symbionese Liberation Army Got Started?

Summary

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was formed as a result of the Black Cultural Association (BCA) programs in Vacaville prison, with Donald DeFreeze, an escaped convict, as its leader.

Abstract

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was formed as a result of the Black Cultural Association (BCA) programs in Vacaville prison, which aimed to provide education and support to Black offenders. The BCA was founded in 1968 and had thirty volunteer tutors from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1971, Colston Westbrook, a linguistics instructor at UC Berkeley, was hired to coordinate the BCA program. Westbrook was a former serviceman and was rumored to have worked for the CIA and taught brainwashing techniques at Vacaville. Donald DeFreeze, a BCA member who served a five-year sentence for armed robbery, escaped from Soledad prison in 1973 and formed the SLA to force changes in the prison system. DeFreeze used the stories about Westbrook's CIA connections to recruit people to work with him against the existing prison system.

Opinions

The Black Cultural Association (BCA) was founded to offer alternatives to Black offenders and deal with the unique problems they faced inside prisons.
The BCA program gained popularity in Berkeley and attracted additional volunteers from the university.
Colston Westbrook was a linguistics instructor at UC Berkeley and was hired to coordinate the BCA program.
Westbrook was rumored to have worked for the CIA and taught brainwashing techniques at Vacaville.
Donald DeFreeze, a BCA member, escaped from Soledad prison and formed the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) to force changes in the prison system.
DeFreeze used the stories about Westbrook's CIA connections to recruit people to work with him against the existing prison system.
The SLA had several founding members, including Angela Atwood, Patricia Soltysik, Camilla Hall, Nancy Ling Perry, Joe Remiro, Emily Harris, Willie Wolfe, Thero Wheeler, Mary Alice Siem, Bill Harris, Russ Little, Gary Atwood, Wendy Yoshimura, Kathleen Soliah, Patty Hearst, James Kilgore, and Michael Bortin.

Do You Know How the Symbionese Liberation Army Got Started?

Part 1 and 2 tell you the whole story you never read elsewhere

The halls of Vacaville prison in Northern California extend in opposite directions, so far out that it seems infinite. Inmates are housed in cells within the immense complex and form communities with their brothers to better cope with the vastness of the institution. The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was formed as the result of outside visitation programs that supported the Black Cultural Association (BCA), founded in 1968. Its purpose was to offer “alternatives to the Black Offender in his apathy and to deal with the unique problems that confront him inside the prisons.”

BCA had thirty volunteer tutors, mainly from the University of California at Berkeley, who went to the prison to conduct educational programs in math, reading, writing, art, history, political science, black sociology, and African heritage. Within the prison, the group grew, eventually meeting three times a week. The tutorial program also gained popularity in Berkeley, attracting additional volunteers from the university and the attention of interested observers in the community at large. In 1971, Vacaville prison hired Colston Westbrook to coordinate the BCA program. Westbrook was a linguistics instructor at UC Berkeley. He spoke Italian, French, German, Korean, and Japanese.

Westbrook became involved in the issue of prisoners’ rights. He was in demand for consulting about the well-regarded BCA program and his extensive language skills. Before going to Vacaville, Westbrook had served in the army for three years and in the air force for four. Although he tried to keep his military background private, many in the BCA passed along exotic tales about Westbrook’s military service, saying that he was more than just a serviceman, that he had done and continued to do work for the Central Intelligence Agency that involved brainwashing, and that he was using and teaching brainwashing techniques at Vacaville.

Donald DeFreeze served a five-year sentence for armed robbery and was a BCA member. After three and a half years at Vacaville, he was transferred to Soledad prison, from which he escaped in June 1973. After his escape, he formed the Symbionese Liberation Army to force changes in the prison system. He used the stories that Westbrook was a CIA operative to help recruit people to work with him against the existing prison system. DeFreeze adopted the title General Field Marshall Cinque Mtume; he has commonly referred to as Cinque (pronounced “san-cue”).

Founding members: Donald Defreeze, Angela Atwood, Patricia Soltysik, Camilla Hall, Nancy Ling Perry, Joe Remiro, Emily Harris, Willie Wolfe, Thero Wheeler, Mary Alice Siem, Bill Harris, Russ Little, Gary Atwood, Wendy Yoshimura, Kathleen Soliah, Patty Hearst, James Kilgore, Michael Bortin.

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