Prairie Fire Organizing Committee
Predecessor | Weather Underground |
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Location |
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Website | www.prairiefire.org[dead link] |
The Prairie Fire Organizing Committee is an American far left organization that evolved from the Weather Underground.
Origins
In 1974, the Weather Underground released the book Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-imperialism.[1][2] Since the Weather Underground was engaged in illegal bombings and its leaders were fugitives, it required help from aboveground supporters to distribute the book; participants in this work included Van Lydegraf and Jennifer Dohrn.[3] Over 40,000 copies were distributed.[4] Discussion groups were created to discuss the issues that arose from the book.[5] This above ground organizing is how the Prairie Fire Distribution Committee was created, which in 1975 became the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee.
The book's preparation was a 12-month process. It was written collaboratively and adopted as the collective statement of the Weather Underground.
Ideology
Prairie Fire Organizing Committee regards
The book Prairie Fire was explicitly feminist, based on an understanding that success of imperialism relied on the oppression of women.[4] One result of this point of view was the creation of childcare teams which collectivized the labor of raising children within the organization.[12]
Activism and solidarity work
Much of the work of Prairie Fire focused on international solidarity.
In 1979, the victory of the
In 1980, the U.S. government arrested eleven Puerto Rican members of the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN, the Armed Forces of National Liberation) who were committing acts of terrorism to gain independence for Puerto Rico. Prairie Fire worked as allies with the Puerto Rican independent movement to demand the release of these prisoners.[14][15]
Since 1984 Prairie Fire has been active in the annual International Women's Day celebration that is held on March 8 in Chicago. Members participate in marches and programs based around the event.[16][17]
In the 1990s, Prairie Fire joined WAC, the Women's Action Coalition, to take direct action against sexism by fighting for women's rights to their bodies and access to women's clinics.
In 1996, Prairie Fire initiated the Not On The Guest List Coalition which organized a demonstration at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was a demonstration that focused its attention on capital punishment in the United States, racism and classism within the criminal justice system, and for the release of political prisoners held within the U.S. prisons. Prairie Fire has also worked to oppose the 2003 Iraq War, and on other societal issues in the US and abroad.[18]
Cultural production
Prairie Fire Organizing Committee produced the journal Breakthrough.[19][20] Fireworks Graphics Collective, a Bay area printing collective, was their graphic production wing.[21][22] Fireworks produced posters for international solidarity movements, women's liberation movements, LGBT issues, release of political prisoners, and more.[21][23]
Works
Books
- Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism: The Political Statement of the Weather Underground. San Francisco: Communications Co., 1974.
Journals
- Breakthrough San Francisco: John Brown Book Club, 1977–.
References
- ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism. Political Statement of the Weather Underground. Brooklyn: Prairie Fire Distribution Committee, July 1974.
- ^ Jacobs, Ron. (1997). The Way The Wind Blew: A History of The Weather Underground. New York: Verso pg. 160
- ^ a b "A Second Wind for Weather Underground? The Prairie Fire Statement". Versobooks.com. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "Freedom Archives Search Engine: Prairie Fire Organizing Committee". search.freedomarchives.org. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ Dohrn, Bernardine; Jones, Jeff; Ayers, Billy; Sojourn, Celia. (1974)Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism: Political Statement of the Weather Underground. m: Communications Co. p. 6
- ^ Berger, D. (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground And the Politics of Solidarity. Albany.pg. 192
- ^ Berger, D. (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground And the Politics of Solidarity. Albany. p. 184
- ^ Berger, D. (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground And the Politics of Solidarity. Albany.pgs. 127-128
- ^ "Provisional Political Statement," Breakthrough 1:1 (March 1977)
- ^ a b "Prairie Fire Organizing Committee: Home". www.prairiefire.org. Archived from the original on November 2, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2022.
- ^ "We Made a Village for the Kids: Reflections on the Prairie Fire Organizing Committee". Viewpoint Magazine. January 26, 2017. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ISBN 9781438461212.
- ^ "FBI Finds Explosives, Links Them to Radicals". AP NEWS. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ "Record: Society of Women in Law". www.kentlaw.edu. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ "RANGE OF EVENTS MARK WOMEN'S DAY - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News Archive". Windy City Times. March 14, 2001. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ prairiefire.org in the "history" section of the website
- ^ "Breakthrough". bobcat.library.nyu.edu. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- OCLC 488362705.
- ^ a b "Screen Printing Demonstration - Social Justice Posters". Indybay. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ "Posters of the Freedom Archives". Freedom Archives. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- ^ "CAIR Pulls 'Don't Talk To FBI' Poster". Talking Points Memo. January 18, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
Bibliography
- Berger, D. (2006). Outlaws of America: The Weather Underground And the Politics of Solidarity. Albany.
- Sing a Battle Song: The Revolutionary Poetry, Statements, And Communiques of the Weather Underground 1970 - 1974 (1st Seven Stories Press Ed ed.). (2006). New York: Seven Stories Press.
- Dohrn, Bernardine; Jones, Jeff; Ayers, Billy; Sojourn, Celia. (1974)Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism: Political Statement of the Weather Underground. m: Communications Co.
- Jacobs, Ron. (1997). The Way The Wind Blew: A History of The Weather Underground. New York: Verso
External links
- Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived July 23, 2010)
- Archive of publications at the Wayback Machine (archived November 10, 2013)