interesting

Sara Jane Olson to be Released from Jail

Sara Jane Olson is set to be released today from a California prison. She was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. She was arrested in 1999 after living for twenty-five years underground. She pleaded guilty to taking part in two attempts to bomb the Los Angeles Police Department in 1975, but later proclaimed her innocence.
Richard Aoki, Former Black Panther, 1938-2009

And the civil rights activist Richard Aoki has died at the age of seventy-one. He was an early member of the Black Panther Party and later served as a field marshal for the Panthers. He was the only Asian American to hold a leadership role in the group. Aoki was born in 1938 in California and spent part of his childhood living in an internment camp during World War II.

interesting. cool that there was an asian american leader in the panthers. the panthers actually had several non blacks, including some latinos who went on to help create the young lords. the internment must have been a radicalizing experience, to say the least. malcolm's friend yuri kochiyama was also interned as a child. aoki must have been a cool dude. as for olson, 25 years underground? amazing. it's hard enough for me to survive a week above ground. people such as olson and aoki committed themselves to the struggle for creating a better world. as i sit here blogging, i can't help but compare the level of their commitment and courage to my own.

better to think of something else, before i really lose it.