Karen Ashley
Encyclopedia
Karen Ashley is a former member of Students for a Democratic Society
(SDS) and The Weatherman
(WUO).
along with eighteen other SDS members traveled to Cuba as guests of the Cuban government. They met with representatives with the intention to establish a relationship with the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). According to "New Left Notes" dated October 9, 1967, the group of SDS members departed on February 6 from O'Hare International Airport
in Chicago bound for Mexico City. They met a connecting flight to Havana on Cuba's Cubana Airlines. The group spent 2½ weeks in Cuba and returned to the United States by way of Canada. The article listed members of the group and their involvement. Ashley was a part of the National Office of SDS in Chicago. The New York Region of SDS held a Series of Commentaries about SDS on radio station WBAI
FM, 99.5 each Wednesday, after the evening news. Ashley was interviewed on March 20, 1968, by Jeff Jones
, a fellow SDS member and master of ceremonies for the broadcast. Ashley was asked to discuss her impressions from her 2 1/1 weeks in Cuba. She stated that while walking down the streets "the thing that struck her the most was the way the people have a pride in being a part of the revolution."
Ashley was a principal initiator of the Venceremos Brigade
. She provided arrangements to send SDS members in 1970 to help the Cuban farmers cut the sugar cane for harvest. Ashley attended the "War Council" in Flint, Michigan
December 27–31, 1969. This was the last public gathering with other SDS members before splintering off to form Weatherman.
, Bernardine Dohrn
, Mark Rudd
, John Jacobs
, Jim Mellen, Bill Ayers
, Karen Ashley, Steve Tappis, Gerry Long, Jeff Jones
, and Howie Machtinger.
Ashley's fingerprints were found along with Michael Justesen
, Naomi Jaffe
, Bill Ayers
and 16 other Weather Underground members' fingerprints. The prints were lifted by FBI in an abandoned apartment dubbed "Pine Street Bomb Factory" in San Francisco, California. Weather Underground members used the apartment during April 1970 to mid-April, 1971. FBI inspections found explosives and bomb making paraphernalia.
Students 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...
(SDS) and The Weatherman
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...
(WUO).
SDS
In February 1968, Karen Ashley and Mark RuddMark Rudd
Mark William Rudd is a political organizer, mathematics instructor, and anti-war activist, most well known for his involvement with the Weather Underground. Rudd became a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963. By 1968, he had emerged as a leader...
along with eighteen other SDS members traveled to Cuba as guests of the Cuban government. They met with representatives with the intention to establish a relationship with the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam (NLF) and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV). According to "New Left Notes" dated October 9, 1967, the group of SDS members departed on February 6 from O'Hare International Airport
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
in Chicago bound for Mexico City. They met a connecting flight to Havana on Cuba's Cubana Airlines. The group spent 2½ weeks in Cuba and returned to the United States by way of Canada. The article listed members of the group and their involvement. Ashley was a part of the National Office of SDS in Chicago. The New York Region of SDS held a Series of Commentaries about SDS on radio station WBAI
WBAI
WBAI, a part of the Pacifica Radio Network, is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, broadcasting at 99.5 FM in New York City.Its programming is leftist/progressive, and a mixture of political news and opinion from a leftist perspective, tinged with aspects of its complex and varied...
FM, 99.5 each Wednesday, after the evening news. Ashley was interviewed on March 20, 1968, by Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones (activist)
Jeff Jones is an environmental activist and consultant in Upstate New York. He was a national officer in Students for a Democratic Society, a founding member of Weatherman, and a leader of the Weather Underground....
, a fellow SDS member and master of ceremonies for the broadcast. Ashley was asked to discuss her impressions from her 2 1/1 weeks in Cuba. She stated that while walking down the streets "the thing that struck her the most was the way the people have a pride in being a part of the revolution."
Ashley was a principal initiator of the Venceremos Brigade
Venceremos Brigade
The Venceremos Brigade is a politically motivated international organization founded in 1969 by members of the Students for a Democratic Society and officials of the Republic of Cuba...
. She provided arrangements to send SDS members in 1970 to help the Cuban farmers cut the sugar cane for harvest. Ashley attended the "War Council" in Flint, Michigan
Flint, Michigan
Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...
December 27–31, 1969. This was the last public gathering with other SDS members before splintering off to form Weatherman.
Weatherman
The founding statement of Weatherman Organization was published in the "New Left Notes," entitled "You Don't Need a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows..." It was written primarily by the members of the Columbia chapter of SDS. Some primary authors were Terry RobbinsTerry Robbins
Terry Robbins was a U.S. leftist radical activist. A key member of the Students for a Democratic Society Ohio chapter, he led Kent State into its first militant student uprising in 1968. Robbins was credited for drawing inspiration from Bob Dylan’s song Subterranean Homesick Blues which later...
, Bernardine Dohrn
Bernardine Dohrn
Bernardine Rae Dohrn is a former leader of the American anti-Vietnam War radical organization, Weather Underground. She is an Associate Professor of Law at Northwestern University School of Law and the immediate past Director of Northwestern's Children and Family Justice Center...
, Mark Rudd
Mark Rudd
Mark William Rudd is a political organizer, mathematics instructor, and anti-war activist, most well known for his involvement with the Weather Underground. Rudd became a member of the Columbia University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society in 1963. By 1968, he had emerged as a leader...
, John Jacobs
John Jacobs (student leader)
John Gregory Jacobs was an American student and anti-war activist in the 1960s and early 1970s. He was a leader in both Students for a Democratic Society and the Weatherman group, and an advocate of the use of violent force to overthrow the government of the United States...
, Jim Mellen, Bill Ayers
Bill Ayers
William Charles "Bill" Ayers is an American elementary education theorist and a former leader in the movement that opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He is known for his 1960s activism as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction...
, Karen Ashley, Steve Tappis, Gerry Long, Jeff Jones
Jeff Jones (activist)
Jeff Jones is an environmental activist and consultant in Upstate New York. He was a national officer in Students for a Democratic Society, a founding member of Weatherman, and a leader of the Weather Underground....
, and Howie Machtinger.
Ashley's fingerprints were found along with 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:...
, Naomi Jaffe
Naomi Jaffe
Naomi Esther Jaffe is a former undergraduate student of Herbert Marcuse and member of the Weather Underground Organization. Jaffe was recently the Executive Director of Holding Our Own, a multiracial foundation for women.-Early life:...
, Bill Ayers
Bill Ayers
William Charles "Bill" Ayers is an American elementary education theorist and a former leader in the movement that opposed U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He is known for his 1960s activism as well as his current work in education reform, curriculum, and instruction...
and 16 other Weather Underground members' fingerprints. The prints were lifted by FBI in an abandoned apartment dubbed "Pine Street Bomb Factory" in San Francisco, California. Weather Underground members used the apartment during April 1970 to mid-April, 1971. FBI inspections found explosives and bomb making paraphernalia.