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(More customer reviews)Guerrilla USA is the story of the George Jackson Brigade, an activist collective of the 1970's in the Pacific Northwest which used force not only as a means of protest, but also as a way to attempt to incite social change. The pages of this book do not contain an impartial narrative, one which provides an equal word count between the perspectives of the Brigade, of civilians, of law enforcement and government officials. Guerrilla USA also does not follow a path common in today's contemporary political climate by bracketing the actions of the George Jackson Brigade as "terrorist activities," as they were often described by the media. This is a crucial shift which gives this exposition its edge. There are few essays available in which the direction of the narrative is guided by the activists whose members choose to employ force against the infrastructures of capitalism. Thus, while Burton-Rose does not give a balanced account (the viewpoints of wounded law enforcement members and their families, for example, are not provided against the pain and deaths of the Brigade members themselves), this book does provide a much needed counter weight against the asymmetrical event descriptions found in official sources, newspapers, and articles. As such, it also highlights a piece of American history which is often tacit: that of political dissent in the United States by its citizens. Focusing on the memories, communiqués, and diaries of the George Jackson Brigade members, Guerrilla USA provides a form of historical equality by giving voice to those who are most often silenced: those deemed culpable, and imprisoned, for actions in armed struggles. This book is not for those who are weak, either in stomach or mind.
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"We are cozy cuddly/armed and dangerous/and we will/raze the fucking prisons/to the ground." In an attempt to deliver on this promise, the George Jackson Brigade launched a violent three-year campaign in the mid-1970s against corporate and state institutions in the Pacific Northwest. This campaign, conceived by a group of blacks and whites, both straight and gay, claimed fourteen bombings, as many bank robberies, and a jailbreak. Drawing on extensive interviews with surviving members of the George Jackson Brigade, Guerrilla USA provides an inside-out perspective on the social movements of the 1970s, revealing the whole era in a new and more complex light. It is also a compelling exploration of the true nature of crime and a provocative meditation on the tension between self-restraint and anger in the process of social change.
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